//' {>
'
A GLIMPSE
OF THE
GREAT SECRET SOCIETY,
: CERTE NON APERTI, NON SIMPLICES, NON INGENUI .... VERSUTI POTIUS,
ASTUTI, FALLACES, MALITIOSI, CALLIDI, VETEEATORES, VAFRI."
Cicero.
" BY WHOSE AID ASPIRING
TO SET HIMSELF IN GLORY 'BOVE HIS PEERS,
HE TRUSTED TO HAVE EQUALLED THE MOST HIGH."
MILTON, PcvraMse Lost, I. 38 — 40.
THIRD EDITION,
WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES.
LONDON:
WILLIAM MACINTOSH,
24, PATERNOSTER Row.
1872.
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
WITH A
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
FOB THE
STATEMENTS MADE IN THE INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
Preface to the Third Edition
Jesuit Influence and the Franco-German War ; the Dogma . xiii
Quirinus ; Father Beckx ; the power behind the Papal Throne . xiv
The Empress Eugenie — " Ma guerre." Confessors . . xv
The Article in the Monde. Results of the War xv
The Oiieanists. Louis Philippe. The Church and the Parisians xvii
An undying hatred. Spain and Amadeus . . . xviii
German distrust of the Papal party. Education . . . xix
Prussia curbs Ultramontanism. The Cultus xx
Dollinger, the champion of religious freedom in South Germany . xxi
Romanism in the United States. New York. Scripture teaching
paralyzed ... .... xxii
New York Roman Catholic Schools. Religious equality. Riband-
men. Fruits ....... xxiii
Manning's remarks relative to the Roman Catholic conquest of
England. His justification of Anselm, a Becket, Jesuit
morality, of the Gunpowder Plot, and of treason, etc.
Popish designs upon England .... xxiv
Jesuitism and Papal Infallibility. The Curia. Antonelli . xxvii
Despotic nature of the Jesuit and Papal systems. Archbishop
Darboy's speech hostile to the Dogma . . xxviii
Fate of the three last Archbishops of Paris, (note) . . xxix
Infallibility and Canon Law. Bishop Strossmeyer. Montalem-
bert's letter. Archbishop Sibour on the double idolatry . xxx
Rome, the Church and the People. The Four Articles of the
Gallican Church ...... xxxiii
Dr. Dollinger's celebrated Letter upon the incompatibility of the
Dogma with freedom . , . . xxxiv
The Order and the Papacy, Infallible, not immortal. " Janus."
Forgeries — the Isidorian Decretals. Canon of Sardica.
Donations . . . xxxvi
IV
PAGE.
Father Oratry. Pope Honorius a heretic. Gratry's letter to
Archbishop of Malins. Frauds. Duplicity. Father Reguon
on the Forgeries • • XXXV111
Dominus ac Redemptor, or Brief of Clement XIV. for the effec-
tual Suppression of the Jesuit Order, 17?;3. Premature death
of Scxtus V. ... ^
Restoration of the Order, under Gregory XIV. xli
Internal scandals. Expulsion of the Jesuits from France, Spain,
and from other coiuitries. Suspicious death of Clement XIII. xliii
Grounds for the suppression of the Jesuits. Property confiscated,
offices annulled. The extinction of the Order xliv
Clerics to join other Orders. The Brief to be strictly enforced ; to
all eternity valid . .
Jesuit statistics. Condemnation of the Order by the Dogma xlvi
Pope Ganganelli calumniated, Real character of Clement XIV. xlvii
Infallibility exemplified, or the Bulls of 1773 and 1814. Pius VH.
and Ids "exper ienced rowers" .... xlviii
His Holiness' salutary fear of the Jesuits. Voltaire. Sudden
death . ... xlix
Cardinal Bellarmine. Sudden death of Clement XIII. The
death warrant . . . 1
Pope Gaugauelli poisoned: the post-mortem. The nuns' Acqua
Tofana ..... . li
To whom the poisoning of Clement XIV. is due. Motives
of Pius VII. . . lii
Brief of Pius IX. for the restoration of the Order. Reciprocal aid liii
" Quirinus." Excitement in the camp. The Redemptionists . Iv
The Gesu. Relation of the Jesuits to the other Orders . Ivi
The Urini and Thummini. Mutual exaltation. Immunity . Ivii
Under the cloak of infallibility. An awakening . . . Iviii
Training of O'Farrell, the assassin. Henry IV. of France.
Attempted murder of the French and Russian Emperors.
H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh lix
The Secret Society and Fenianism. Hatred of England.
Joly, the Jesuit historian. College at Stony hurst.
Fathers Callaghan and Betah . . . Ix
College training of Irish students. Clongowes . . Ixii
Carlow Magazine. Incitements to crime . . Ixiii
Irish abuse of British statesmen. The Society's teaching.
Mass and blessing for O'Farrell, the dupe of the
Jesuits Ixiv
Connection of the present with the past Ixvii
Charles Sauvestre upon the Jesuit policy. Vitality and hatred.
When to strike. Progress. Suppression, 1792. Rapid de-
velopment, 1872. Leibnitz, or influence acquired by the
guides of education. Questions to guardians . • . Ixviii
M. de Chalotais' speech and Report to the Parliament of Bretagne
upon the Constitution, etc., of the Society of Jesus referred to.
C. Habeneck upon the modus operandi. M. Gamier Pages.
Doctrines of the "Community." Moral code. Intention.
Unchangeableness. " Sint ut sunt aut non sint." Influence
over the parochial clergy . . . Ixx
" Secret Instructions " . . . Ixxiii
Political intrigue in Poland, Switzerland, France, and S. America Ixxiv
Revival of the Society, how effected, in 1814. The Propaganda.
Gaeta ... ... Ixxv
Father Chauvel and Ambrose Guys, 1701 : the sick man and the
good Fathers ....... Ixxvi
Berenger's petition to the Judges, 1715. His assassination threat-
ened. Chauvel's confession. The king's judgment. Consti-
tution of the eleven Parliaments of France. Burial of the
dead refused. The Archbishop of Paris banished . . Ixxvii
The Jesuits and trading. Father Lavalette, Procureur of the
Jesuit establishment at St. Pierre, in Martinique. Privateers
fitted out. Sacy. Masses and Money. The Prime Minister
of Louis XV. Five days too late. Condemnation of the
Jesuits. Appeal and special pleading. Pros and cons.
Revelation of their Constitutions. The Abbe Chauvelin.
Extinction of the Order in France .... Ixxix
Extracts from the " Secret Constitutions." Moral Code. A judge ;
a monk ; servants and thieving ; adultery ; assassination ;
murder ; luxury. Expulsion of the enemy from France . Ixxxii
The Jesuit system extending among us. The Oratorians at
Brompton. Their system supported by the Dogma of
Supremacy ....... Ixxxiii
The great means of effective opposition publicity, and a Scriptural
liturgy ........ Ixxxiv
Tyranny of the Papal system, as evidenced in the Pope's letter to
the Archbishop of Paris in 1865 .... Ixxxiv
Turning-points in the histories of France and England . . Ixxxv
Jesuit attacks. Henry IV. Charles I. Elizabeth. Her life
attempted. Safety. Detractors .... Ixxxvi
Date of England's rising greatness. Perilous position of France.
Misgivings as to Ireland and England. The greatest caution
needful. England's only safety .... Ixxxviii
Report on the Constitution of the Jesuits, delivered by M. Louis
Rene de Caraduc de la Chalotais, Procureur- General of the
VI
PAGE.
King, to the Parliament of Bretagne, on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and
5th of December, 1701 ; translated from the 1st Edition of 1762,
printed at liennes
Decree of the Parliament of Bretagne on the 23rd December, 1761 107
Persecution of M. de la Chalotais by the Jesuit party . 124
APPENDIX.
Cardinal Wiseman on the Abbe de la Mennais . 128
The Abbe de la Mennais on the Order of Jesuits . 130
Galilean opinions . . 134
Frederick the Great of Prussia and the Jesuits . 137
How the Jesuit leaven works in the United States . 142
How the Jesuits crept into England and Ireland. Mr. O'Connell's
connection with them ...... 145
Several historical facts connected with the Order of Jesuits, and
comments thereon ...... 147
An Ecclesiastical History by J. L. Moslieim . . 159
A translation of the Letter from the Pope to the Archbishop of
Paris, 1865 . 163
Relations between Russia and Rome. Gortchakoff . 179
Annex to the above ... . 181
Letter of the late Count Montalembert on Ultramontanism and
Papal Infallibility . 207
Dr. Dollinger and Papal Infallibility . . . 211
The Tablet on Montalembert' s Letter of Feb. 28, 1870 221
The Encyclical and Syllabus, of 1864 . 224
Remarkable letter from Pere la Chaise to Father Peters . 226
Translation of the Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864 . 233
Syllabus . 243
Spain . . . 252
Interdiction of the Jesuits in Switzerland . 252
Cardinal Cullen on the Council 253
LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED.
" Letters from Rome on the Council," by " Quirinus " London :
Rivington. 1870. ... . xiv
Dr. Manning's Sermons. Paternoster Row : Duffy. . xxiv
" The Papal Garrison." London : Hunt & Co. 1872. . . xxvii
" The Knee of the Church." London : Macintosh. 1869. . xxxiii
"Letter from the Bavarian Minister of Public Worship to the
Archbishop of Munich. 27th August, 1871" . . xxxviii
Vll
PAOE.
•' The Pope and the Council," b'y "Janus." London : Rivington.
1869. . . xxxvii
" Etudes Religieuses," by " P. Gratry." November, 18G6. Paris. xl
" History of the Popes," by " Ranke." xlvii
"Vita BeUarminis," by " Cardinal a Monte." Antwerp. 1631.. xlix
" Scipio de Ricci," by " Roscoe," . lii
" Iniago Societatis Jesu," by '' Bolland." Ivii
" The Poor Gentlemen of Liege," London : Shaw & Co. . . Ixii
" Introductions aux Instructions Secretes des Jesuites," par
"Charles Sauvestre." Paris. Chez Dentu, Palais Royal. 1863. Ixvii
"Les Congregations Religieuses." Enquete par Ch. Sauvestre.
Achille Fatire a Paris, Rue Dauphine 18, 1807. . Ixviii
" Les Jesuites en 1861." Par Chas. Habeneck. Chez Dentu a Paris Ixix
" Moral Works." R. P. Sauchez. . . Ixx
" Les bons Messieurs de St. Vincent de Paul." J. M. Cayla.
Dentu, Paris. 1863. . . . Ixxii
" Essay on Pubh'c Theology," By Father Tabema. 1736 . Ixxx
" Praxis ex Soc. Jes. Schola." Ixxx
" Somme de P. Bauny." . Ixxx
" Treatise on Penitence," by Father Kaleze Reginald. . Ixxx
" Moral Theology." P. Henri quez. . Ixxx
" Moral Theology." P. A. Escobar. . . . Ixxxi
" Rome's Tactics." By the Dean of Ripon. Hatchards, London.
1867. . . , . . Ixxxiv
" Historical Sketch of the Reformation in Poland," by Count
Valerian Krasinski. Murray and Ridgway. London. 1838. Ixxxv
Vie de Louis Quinze, in 4 vols. — vol. iv., p. 38 ; a Londres, J. P.
Lyon, 1781. Translation of the same, by J. O. Justamond, F.R.S.,
printed by Charles Dilly in the Poultry, 1781 — vol. iv., p. 43 ;
also by R. Marchbank, Dublin, 17H1 — vol. iv., p. 43. See
also Foreign Articles in the Annual Register, then written by
Edmund Burke, — May 1761, vol. iv., pp. 107, 113; September
1761, p. 157 ; December 1761 ; also an article in the Annual
Register for 1759, a memorial from the Lieutenants of
Martinique to the Governor of the French Islands, p. 208; also
vol. xiii., pp. 47 and 53 ; and vol. xiv., pp. 89 and 93. The
Comte de Beauliarnais, the husband of the Empress Josepliine,
was that Governor, anno 1759. See Vie Privee, vol. 3, p. 164;
translation by Justamond, vol. 3, p. 207.
For general confirmation of statements contained in this work, vide
" The Jesuits, an Historical Sketch," by E. W. Grinfield,
M.A., Seeleys, London. " History of the Jesuits," by G. B.
Nicolim, Bohn, London, 1«54. A compilation of
authorities, entitled, " Indications of the Action of the
Jesuits," Macintosh, London.
Vlll
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
CIRCUMSTANCES have somewhat hurried the production of
this Edition ; otherwise the policy of the Ultramontane Roman
Catholics — which is, in fact, the policy of the Jesuits — with
respect to education, might have been illustrated hy some brief
notices ; while the development of the lay affiliations of the Order,
including persons of both sexes — married and unmarried — the
more remote constituents of the Great Secret Society might have
been further traced for the guidance of the many, who are unfor-
tunately ignorant of the symptoms — for so they may justly be
described — of this potent clement of disorder. Our reason for
avoiding further delay is, that some of the scattered indications
of the tendency of Ultramontane action, now added to our former
record, would lose freshness in elucidating things, as they are, if
long withheld.
The Ultramontanes are wont to assure all those, who are
attached to Constitutional Government in this country, and to
the cause of law and order elsewhere, that they can have no
such firm allies, as the adherents of the Papacy, the devoted sons
of the great central authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
But in giving these assurances the Ultramontanes either ignore,
or are themselves not aware of the fact, that this central autho-
rity, to which they are blindly obedient, claims more or less the
right to supersede, and is therefore sure, in matters, more or less
important, to become antagonistic to any authority that is not
absolutely its own, or practically obedient to its behests.
IX
Nothing is more astonishing to the uninitiated than the
rapidity, with which the Ultramontanes transfer their alle-
giance from one extreme of political opinion to the other.
The form of national government, the Jesuits prefer, is un-
doubtedly despotic, so long as this, the most centralized of all
forms of government, is really under their command ; as were
the late dynasties of Naples and of Spain. Yet notwithstanding
the wonderful and unscrupulous skill of Jesuit direction, such is
the intensity of the tyranny, they invariably promote or exercise,
that whenever and wherever it has been felt long enough to be
understood, their instruments break in their hands. The
progress of civilisation and increased rapidity of communication
have tended to shorten the periods of their success in the main-
tenance of avowed despotisms. Still, being perfectly indifferent
to the amount of human and national suffering they occasion, in
their warfare against freedom, a brief enjoyment of the control
over the depositories of absolute power has attractions for them,
which they either cannot or will not resist.
An absolutism, the product and exponent of intense national
feeling and pride, such as the autocracy of Russia, may defeat
the Great Secret Society and the Papacy ; but it can only do so
by constant watchfulness, and measures of retaliation, almost as
severe, although not necessarily as treacherous, as the attacks, to
which, it is exposed. Of this the circular of Prince Gortchakoff
(which will be found in the Appendix) affords, when read toge-
ther with the accounts of the Polish insurrection, conclusive
evidence.
Perhaps the most curious aspect of Ultramontane action is pre-
sented when Ultramontanes, with a versatility of conduct, which
none others with satisfaction to their own consciences can prac-
tise, declare their devotion to the extreme doctrines of universal
liberty, and the most advanced notions of social and political
equality. This phase of Jesuit action may at first sight appear
the most incongruous of all. A little reflection will, however,
convince the intelligent reader, that there is a powerful element
in the organization of the Jesuit Order, which is akin to the most
advanced, as they are called, but, in truth, the most barbarously
retrograde, doctrines of equality. The government of the Jesuit
order is monarchical, under their General even to the full extent of
constituting an Ultra Despotism ; and in this the constitution of
Jesuits differs from the primitive organization of several of
the older Monastic Orders of the Church of Home, which
were rather ecclesiastical in their character than military. The
General of the Jesuits is an autocrat, until he is deposed, or
dies ; and the more despotically an autocrat, hecause he reigns
over that, which a French writer aptly describes as "a
Communism of Celihates." Celibacy is necessary to the complete
and absolute abnegation of personal rights, which is equally the
characteristic of Communism and of the Jesuit Order. Since
marriage and its consequence — the Family — generate patriarchal
government, which is alien to genuine Communism. The Com-
munism of the Jesuit Order would be complete, but for the
absolutism of their General. It is not difficult, therefore, to
understand the facility, with which they adapt their action either
to the support of Despotism in National Government, or to the
propagation of Ultra Democracy.
From motives of prudence the Jesuits disguise their dislike
of Constitutional Government. The Gunpowder Plot was a
failure fraught with to them disastrous consequences. But their
dislike of Constitutional freedom is scarcely less than their hatred
of the liberties of the Gallican Church, or their detestation of
Christian Protestantism. — Protestantism, that is not Christian,
they often flatter, but always despise, knowing that inasmuch as
it lacks a genuine appeal to the higher motives of mankind, they
can mould it to their purpose, or dispose of it at their discretion.
All Europe has respected the character of the late talented
Count Montalembert. And in the Appendix to this work will
be found the last letter, written by him shortly before his death, in
which he touched upon political subjects ; his last views upon
which contrast strangely enough with his previous adhesion to
the doctrines of Ultramontanism. Yet no one doubted Monta-
lembert' sr sincerity ; he rived to see the Ultramontanes conspire to
overthrow the constitutional government of Louis Philippe, in
favour of the democratic Republic of 1848, with the purpose,
as we believe, of subverting the Republic through exaggeration
of its democratic tendencies, and thus supplanting it by the Third
XI
French Empire. The Count Montalembert lived long enough to
discover, that, although Ultramontanism is always consistent with
itself— that is, with implicit obedience to the power, which reigns
supreme in the person of the Pontiff, — it is incapable of genuine
amalgamation with anything else. "We leave it to theologians to
decide whether its religion, if fanaticism may be called religion,
consists in anything dogmatically permanent beyond the last de-
cree of the reigning Pontiff, provided always, that such decree
be agreeable to the interests of the Society.
However little such mental subjugation may consist with the
sense of duty, which inspires those, who hold a different faith, no
mistake can be greater than to suppose, that this blind obedience in
the least incapacitates the individuals, subject to it, from the most
effective action. On the contrary, the intensity of their com-
bination, and the secresy, with which it is enforced, enables
the Great Secret Society to grapple with the most powerful
Governments of the world. It was at first amicably allied with
the Third Empire of France. Then came a period of coldness
between the allies, approaching to hostility. At last, the
Great Secret Society triumphed over the failing energies of the
Emperor, and forced him to a final effort in the interests of the
Papacy, which ended in his downfall. Scarcely eighteen months
have elapsed, before we find the Government of the Empire, which
overthrew that of Napoleon, entering upon a struggle with the
agents of the Papacy upon the matter of education in Germany.
Is, then, the conclusion at which we invite our readers to
arrive, that the Great Secret Society, the director and right hand
of the Papacy, a power, with which, as invincible, it is useless to
contend ? Such a conclusion is condemned by the history of this
country, whose freedom, whose prosperity and whose greatness have
advanced exactly in proportion to the triumph of her true religion
— that of the Bible — over the corruptions of the Christian faith,
of which the Papacy and its Great Secret Society are the expon-
ents. While the periods of her comparative weakness have al-
ways ensued upon the periodical departures of her Government
from the Christian principles, which found their exposition,
first in the Church, and then in the Common Law of England.
This world is a world of conflict ; and although the variations
Xll
in the prosperity of nations are not sudden as the intermittent
phases of a fever-patient's illness, still the changes, from growing
strength to weakness are patent to the perception of even the
irregular student, and his studies must be limited, if he arrive at
any conclusion other than that the periods of national growth and
national vigour, whether original or renewed, have always been
those at which the nation adhered most closely to the dictates
of the morality, which is perfectly developed only by means of an
open Bible, — the antagonist which even the Great Secret Society
has never yet been able finally to overcome.
rm
THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT SECRET SOCIETY
IN PRODUCING THE
FRANCO - GERMAN WAR.
THERE was a remarkable coincidence in the time of the
" Declaration " of Papal Infallibility with the commencement
of the late war which has resulted in such disaster to France.
On the 18th of July, 1870, amidst a scene that was designed by
the Papal Curia to be one of peculiar and significant splen-
dour, but which Heaven turned into unwonted and ominous
gloom, the prophecy of St. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 4) was literally
fulfilled by the Pope, seated on his throne in the Church of
St. Peter's. " He as God sitteth in the temple of. God, showing The Dogma &
himself that he is God." On that very same day, the war, which the War-
had been declared three days before by France against Prussia,
was commenced by the march of the French forces. "Was
this an accidental coincidence, or was it design ? There
is every reason to believe, that the war, which began on the
very day of the Papal consummation, had been planned for the
purpose of using the sword of France in a new crusade, whereby
Ultramontane influence should obtain an enormous expansion,
forcing nations to receive the favoured heresy of Papal infallibility
now being pressed upon the recreant Bishops by an ultimatum
from the Vatican, with all its inseparable tyranny.
This war, wbich has ended in the unprecedented and deserved
overthrow of those who appealed to the sword, was expected to
achieve far different results. The date of its commencement
was chosen so as to excite the idea that Providence had inter-
posed in favour of the new dogma. Jesuits intended, in this way,
c
xiv Jesuit Influence in the late War.
to answer and silence their opponents, to distract the minds of
men from a critical consideration of their proceedings, and to
Quirinus. overpower the noble freedom of German thought. " Quirinus "
wrote from Rome, in December, 1869, in these remarkable
words,* which pointed out accurately the programme of those
constant plotters, the members of the Society of Jesus : —
" Their Order is now really, and in the fullest sense, the Urini
and Thummim and breastplate of the high-priest — the Pope —
who can only then issue an oracular utterance when he has con-
sulted his breastplate, the Jesuit Order. Only one thing was
still wanting for the salvation of a world redeemed and regene-
rated once again : the Jesuits must again become the confessors
of monarchs restored to absolute power.
" It is one of the notes of an age so rich in contradictious, that
Beckx. the present General of the Order, Father Beckx, is not in
harmony with the proceedings of his spiritual militia. Here, in
Rome, he is reported to have said, 'In order to recover two
fractions of the States of the Church, they are pricking on to a
war against the world : but they "will lose all.' But for that
reason, as is known, he possesses only the outward semblance of
government, while it is really in the hands of a Conference."
The sword of France was the instrument which was to open
the way to absolutism in Church and in State throughout the
world. Jesuits were thus to " become the confessors of monarchs,
restored to absolute power," holding the same relation to them
that Father La Chaise did to Louis XIY. in his dotage.f The
present head of the Romish Church is content to be the puppet of
this power— crafty, secret, active, persistent,— a power behind the
Papal throne overawing its possessor. Intoxicated with their
success, ignoring the former reverses of their Order, and entirely
* See " Letters from Rome on the Council," by "Quirinus." London:
Rivingtons, 1870. Page 79.
t If the reader would gain an insight into what dreadful lengths of crime
such " confessors of absolute monarchs " will go in order to achieve their
evil purposes, let him read the most important and characteristic letter from
Father La Chaise, the confessor of Louis XIV., to Father Peters, confessor
of James II., written in 1688, which will be found at page 221 of the present
work.
Jesuit Influence in the late War. xv
callous to the demands urged for their expulsion in July and
September last from Rome, and also virtually from Germany, by
the adoption of the sixth resolution in the programme of the Old
Catholic Congress, held at Munich in October, they are following
in the steps of the most ambitious and unscrupulous of their
former chiefs. To arrive at the summit, not merely of spiritual
power, but of political and worldly authority, through spiritual
pretensions, — this is, and ever has been, the object kept in view.
To attain this end, they bend all their energies and use every
means that promises to secure any degree of success and additional
influence to their Society.
They acted upon the Emperor of the French through his Empress, Jesuits & the
who was devoted to them and obedient to their suggestions, and Eugenie!
proved herself their partisan at every risk, by the well-known
exclamation : " Better the Prussians at Paris than the Italians
at Rome." And, indeed, we find on referring to an entry made
by Professor Friedrich in his diary, dated May 2nd, 1870, and
kept by him whilst at the (Ecumenical Council, that he speaks of a
distinct understanding having been arrived at, between the Jesuit
party and the Tuilleries, in view of a Franco-Prussian war. The
Professor observes, that it was well known in Berlin that such an
understanding existed. He adds : " It was no secret, but a
notorious fact, that the Empress Eugenie was entirely under the
influence of the Jesuits, and in constant communication with
Rome, and that she was eager in urging on the war, which she
repeatedly spoke of as ' ma guerre,' because she regarded it as a
sort of crusade. The Empress and her clerical advisers represented
the party, then dominant at the Vatican. And the Jesuits hoped
to promote, by war, the policy they had inaugurated by the
(Ecumenical Council and the Syllabus which had preceded it.
The agent employed to conduct the negotiations between the Confessors.
Empress (who, after the departure of the Emperor to the army,
assumed the supreme power as Regent) and the directors of the
Papal policy, was her Majesty's confessor. The participation of
other Court confessors, such as those at Vienna and elsewhere, in
this affair, was also reckoned upon. Evenltaly would, it was thought,
be thus brought over to the cause ; and if the victories of Wissem-
burg, Woerth, and Spicheren had not so rapidly succeeded each
c 2
XVI
Jesuit Influence in the late War.
The Monde.
Results
Failure.
other, perhaps, the calculations made at theVatican and the Tuilleries
for bringing about a coalition of the Catholic Powers against
Germany would not have proved fallacious." The Jesuit power
is founded on the Papal. All objection to Papal tyranny must be
stifled; all claim to spiritual freedom on the part of Roman Catho-
lics must be put down as infidelity, which was equal in their eyes to
the enormity of Protestantism itself. In tlaeMonde* two days after
the breaking out of the Franco-German war, there appeared an
article in which the writer declared, that " the war is not only
destined to decide the preponderance of one of the two Powers,
but will have a most important influence upon the prospects of
Catholicism. The triumph of France is necessary, in order to
stay the progress of Protestantism and infidel German philosophy
represented by Prussia." The disfavour in which everything
German was regarded at Rome is well put in a sentence of the
eighteenth letter of " Quirinus :" " German, and, of ill repute for
orthodoxy, are synonymous terms here" — i.e., in Rome. Upon
the German nation, therefore, was to be enforced a submission to
everything Papal, renunciation of all manliness of soul and free-
dom of mind, by the power of the sword. The Emperor of the
French, the quondam eldest son of the Church — now no longer
looked on as legitimate, since his power to serve the Papacy had
failed — was then supposed to be in possession of force sufficient
to achieve this desired object. But even the most astute are some-
times deceived ; and fortunate is it for the human race, that these
subtle plans against freedom have been turned to the discomfiture
of their originators. The recent onset against Germany has
resulted not only in the prostration of the aggressor, but also in
the downfall of the Papacy itself, as a temporal power.
The Jesuits, with characteristic selfishness, look with apathy
on the misfortunes of their instruments, who have committed
the unpardonable crime of failure in attaining their leading
object — the supremacy of the Order. Constitutional forms of
government are everywhere more or less opposed by the Jesuits.
Democracy as the parent of despotism, and despotism itself, alone
receive their constant fealty.
The Monde, July 20, 1870.
Despotic tendency of their views. xvii
The Weekly Register* tells us : —
"Of the Orleanists it is enough to say that they are a mere TheOrleanists
faction in France. They have neither the Church, nor the army,
nor the people on their side. The clergy do not love them, and
have no reason to like them. During Louis Philippe's reign the
Church in France was in absolute bondage. The Bishops were
constantly snubbed ; the cathedrals and churches were suffered
to go to decay ; and the utmost indulgence was given, and the
warmest friendship was shown to the violent literary revilers of
the Church and enemies of religion" [i.e., to Gallican Catholics,
and such Protestants as M. Guizot]. " One of the earliest acts
of the barricade monarchy was to invade the Pontifical States,
and seize Ancona, because the Austrian s crossed the frontier at
the Pope's desire, to aid in the suppression of a Carbonaro
insurrection The shopkeepers in Paris and in the
large towns were attached to the citizen King, and it is probable
that their sympathies still flow in a great measure towards
Orleanism ; but they constitute only a fraction of the nation, and
at best but a poor prop for an illegitimate Bourbon throne."
This was an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of observers, and
to hide Ultramontane discomfiture beneath the show of bravery.
The sufferings of Paris, in their most striking phases, especially
during the Commune, were openly attributed in France to
Ultramontane schemes ; and it is a fact worthy of notice, that,
of the murderers of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte, eight Generals
were sentenced to death, whilst in the case of those charged at Thomas and
O T i
Versailles, with the murder of the Gallican Archbishop and others,
but one was condemned to capital punishment. \Yhether Jesuit
interests may or may not have demanded this sacrifice, must for
the present be left somewhat to conjecture, but will be noticed
hereafter. To the Great Secret Society, the downfall of France
and the desolate homes of millions are as nothing. Men and
governments, in its estimation, are merely the counters with
which it plays. Sorrows, tears and blood, it cares for, ouly as
far as these favour or thwart its own schemes.
At the present time, throughout Continental Europe, the more
* Jr.ne 17th, 1871.
XV111
Defeat and its consequences.
Spain and
Amadeus.
Italy and
France.
audacious and overt of these schemes have apparently collapsed.
As their General, Beckx, foretold the Jesuits would be the case,
they have overreached themselves ; but have already recommenced
their subtle labours. Unchanged in temper and aim, they are
looking forward to a terrible revenge for their recent defeats.
An undying hatred against those who have checkmated them,
in Spain, in Italy and elsewhere, is expressed in the following
extract from one of their organs.*
" The Olive of Spain is about to bud forth anew. The sub-
alpine plant, Amadeus, cannot be induced to take root in the
land of Ferdinand and Columbus, Ximenes and Balmez. The
Catholic breeze, which comes from the Pyrenees, bears on its
wings a tale of a coming crusade, which must effectually destroy
the prospects of the son of Victor Emmanuel. Another King —
the son of the injured Queen of Spain — is about to take his place.
Montpensier — unnatural, treacherous Prince though he be — is
beginning to repent of the work of his hands, and blushes at his
own dastard conduct in co-operating with the wretched Prim for
the overthrow of the virtuous Isabella, and in the establish-
ment of a withered branch of the tottering House of Savoy."
. . . . "But, Spain is about to become resurgent. True, she
may — and no doubt she shall — suffer for the Amadean crime.
But her sufferings shall be like those of France, purifying,
salutary, rehabilitating. Her punishment — like that of Italy
and France — will be a blessing, which shall result in the
assertion of those Catholic Eternal Principles of Right, which
are deposited in the hearts of the masses, and which no en-
croachment of heresy — no glittering tinsel of false philosophy —
could ever tarnish. The Savoyard must go home, and we wish
it were in peace. But there is no peace for the wicked Victor
Emmanuel nor for his wretched son. He may go — he shall go —
but the dark cloud of his evil genius may long obscure the bright-
ness of sunny Spain, and leave behind him in the land of the
olive and the vine a long train of miseries, which all right-minded
men would prefer to see him carry with him."
The continual distrust now fostered between Amadeus and hissup-
* Daily Examiner^ Belfast, of June 21, 1871.
German distrust of Uttrqmontdnism.
xix
porters, and the perpetual disturbance under 'the premiership of
Sagasta and subsequent ministers afford convincing evidence of
the development of this spirit of vengeance.
The German Governments have had abundant cause to Germany,
estimate, at their true value, the professions and the practices
of the Ultramontane combination. Now that the effort to sub-
jugate Germany by force has so signally failed, her answer is
given in no undecided terms.
We are indebted to the Standard* for a valuable and accurate
summary (confirmed in substance by the Tablet) of the measures
taken by the Government of the German Empire, showing their
distrust of the Ultramontane party. These measures are of
greater significance than the other important characteristics
of internal policy, that have distinguished Germany since the
conclusion of peace. In Prussia, though the Royal family are
Protestant, the Roman Catholic Church received recognition as
an organisation, responsible to the State with regard to the
religion of a certain portion of the people. There was a
ministerial department for matters connected with that Church.
This department controlled the extensive powers, which the
national system of education in Prussia accorded to Roman Prussian
ecclesiastics. The Prussian Government has had reason to Education,
complain, for many years past, that the position accorded to the
Roman Church was used to cover many abuses of power in the
Ultramontane interest. Some years since, an eminent scientific
professor in the University of Bonn was removed by order
of the Government, because the Archbishop of Cologne dis-
approved of the nature of his scientific teaching. The Prussian
Government then seemed anxious to conciliate the Roman
authorities in the hope of receiving their support. The internal
policy of Prussia was apparently more Ultramontane than that
of the more thoroughly Catholic portions of Germany. This
party, although utterly crushed in Wurtemburg, and in a
minority in Bavaria, yet exercised a stronger influence in Bavaria,
the Rhenish Provinces of Prussia than in any other part
of the German Empire. The Catholics of these Provinces
* Standard of July 28th, 1871.
XX
Prussia curbs Ultramontanism.
seemed to vie witH their co-religionists throughout Belgium
and Ireland in their devotion to the Roman See. The relations
between the State and the Roman Catholics of these provinces,
until recent years, were regulated by Concordat, as in Austria, and
the ecclesiastics there held extensive power and patronage, whilst,
in the other portions of Prussia, the appointments of bishops and
even of parish priests were controlled by the Crown. Whatever
were the political objects which at that time induced the Prussian
Court to favour this growth of the Ultramontane power, the
chief authority of the State has shown that a most effective blow
might be struck whenever it thought fit. By an Order in
Council, the separate department for Roman Catholic affairs has
Muhler. been abolished, and the machinery, with its director, v. Muhler
(rather the delegate of the Pope than of the King in the Rhenish
Provinces), has been removed. The Concordat is not yet abro-
gated, but the special Government department charged to carry it
out is abolished. These measures have been followed by others of
a still more decisive character. One of the priests recently
excommunicated for refusing to accept the new doctrine of
fuiminski. Infallibility, Herr Kuminski, has been authorised by the
Government to continue to celebrate mass ; and the Ministry
have ordered special reports to be made to them of the intrigues
throughout the kingdom, which the Infallibilists are now carrying
on. These and others, are only measures of defence following
upon the abolition of the official department, which was only a
The Cultus. portion of the Ministry, lately controlled by Herr v. Muhler,
under the German title of Cultus, regulating all matters relating
to education and religion. The Augsburg Gazette points out,
that this "department has existed for thirty years, and no one ever
thought of regarding it as of a temporary nature, or looked
forward to its approaching abolition. The subsequent acts
of the Minister, however, clear up all doubt upon the
subject. The attitude of the Imperial Government has
completely changed towards this party, who unhappily are still a
power in Europe and in the world. Events in Southern Germany
have cast a great deal of light upon the subject. . When the Bel-
linger movement first commenced, the Berlin press expressed
the most supercilious indifference to it, just as our Liberal party
Dollinger, and the " Old Catholic " Movement. xxi
here affected to believe that Ultramontanism had no terrors for
them. They opposed it, in common with all others who professed
a respect for freedom and constitutional right, but pretended that
such was the superiority of their weapons, and the fulness of
their light, that they had nothing to fear from its machinations.
The Berlin press represented the struggle in Bavaria, as some- Bavaria,
thing belonging to an earlier period of humanity than that
in which it was their privilege to live. This movement has
become too important to be thus treated. The Catholics of South
Germany have pronounced for it emphatically, and the Imperial
Government hastens to assume the leadership of the movement.
All the astute diplomatising, which the Court of Rome has
employed since the commencement of the war, has failed. The
Pope's letter to the Emperor, the correspondence carried on
through the Archbishop of Posen at Versailles, the parade of
the relations between Cardinal Antonelli and Baron Yon Arnim,
the German envoy at Rome — the bright hopes founded on
intrigue are gone. The new German Empire feels the necessity
of casting off its alliance with the Papacy — a feeling which has
been for some time reflected by the Roman Catholic Government
of Austria. In Bavaria, a Roman Catholic country, where
certain prerogatives are granted to the Church of Rome, a
difficulty presents itself that does not exist in Prussia, where
the knot has been cut by abolishing the quasi recognition of the Prussia cuts
independance of the Church by the State. This proves the tlie knot-
strength of the Dolliuger movement in Germany, the genuine-
ness and power of feeling, as distinct from Obscurantism, with
which the anti-papal name of the great theologian was once
associated. Yet it would be a great mistake to think that
all this will render Ultramontanism harmless. All these
calamities will effect little else than to define more distinctly
the sphere of this party. It no longer controls the State in
Italy. It is more ostracised in Prussia than in Belgium,
or in Ireland ; but it would be a mistake to suppose it im-
potent for evil. Its power over the uneducated masses will
always be great, and all the greater because its chief appeal
will now be to them alone. The State, in Germany and
elsewhere, has failed to come to a settlement with Ultramon-
tanism ; but the State cannot simply ignore it.
XX11
Romanism in the United States.
Papists in
New York.
New York.
Scripture
teaching
paralysed.
In this country, and in the United States, the design of
Jesuitism is, in the main, the same as in Germany, though
attempted hy somewhat different means. An instance of the
consequences which result when a democratic government courts
this treacherous power, is shewn in the following extract :* —
" We have been for some time reliably informed, that the
inhabitants and municipal government of the city of New York
had petted the Papal Church into a position of such superiority
over other sects, that the civil authorities began to feel an
uncomfortable pressure from the favoured denomination. Under
date, October 30th, 1869, the New York correspondent of the
Morning Post wrote : — 'The politicians of New York have long
paid court to the prelates of the Catholic Church, and the latter
have not scrupled to use them. . . . The great bulk of the
Catholics are Irishmen, and all the Irish are democrats, not
because they are Catholics, but because they are Irish. The
democratic politicians have perhaps imagined that by liberal
endowments and donations for Catholic purposes they might
induce the priesthood to use their influence in behalf of the
democratic ticket. . . . New York has long been ruled by
Irish politicians ; they are not very good Catholics, but they at
least were sufficiently well inclined towards their traditional faith
to make for its benefit the most liberal donations." And then
follows a catalogue of endowments and donations given by the
municipality to Roman Catholic churches, conventual and
monastic institutions, hospitals, schools, &c., which testifies to the
dexterity of the late Archbishop Plughes, and might well gladden
the heart of Sir George Bowyer. Reliable information, received
in December last (1871), confirms a previous statement, that
Rome, to some extent, has succeeded in paralysing Scriptural
teaching throughout most of the common schools in the United
States, f Her educational institutions in New York alone, enjoy
public endowments amounting to 412,062 dollars per annum ;
while 116,677 dollars, or less than one-third, is the sum-total
* TJie Press and St. James's Chronicle, July 15th, 1871.
^ t May not the same subtle cause have produced a parallel effect in
England, under the specious pretence of sectarian teaching ?
Romanism in the United States.
xxin
paid towards the support of all the other schools, of whatever NewYorkE.C.
denomination. The disproportion of these benefactions thus given
to the Papal Church, when compared with the aggregate allow-
ance made to other denominations, affords indeed a curious com-
mentary upon the notion of religious equality for which the
nonconformists in this country clamour, and with which Mr.
Bright and his pupils have so carefully imbued the present
government and the majority of the House of Commons.
The occasion of the revival of the cry for religious equality Keligious
in England — one which, as subjects of a foreign power, Romanists e(luality-
have no right to raise, but which has been marked by such eminent
success in Papal aggression of late years — ought well to be re-
membered. It originated sixteen years ago with the late Count
de Montalembert, who then published his " Political Future of
England," and in that remarkable book recommended the Eoman
Catholics to adopt this cry as a lever, by the dexterous use of
which they might effect almost anything in this country. Just
before his death, two years ago, the Count de Montalembert
avowed, that when he published his "Political Future of
England," he was under Ultramontane influence*
Quirinus informs us in his fifth letter, f that the Roman
Catholic Bishops from the United States were very uneasy at the
temper manifested by his Holiness the Pope, at the prospect of The Pope,
having to conform to the decrees of the Council, on their return
to their trans-Atlantic dioceses. One of them exclaimed, "Nobody
should be elected Pope who has not lived three years in the
United States, and thus learnt to comprehend what is possible
at this day in a freely-governed commonwealth."
The Times New York correspondent informs usj — "In New
York the Orangemen recently determined to celebrate to-day,
the 12th of July, by a procession. The Ribandmen deter- Kibandmen.
mined by force to prevent them from carrying out their
purpose. Both sides armed, fears of a disturbance were
excited. The authorities hesitated, but ultimately decided to
* Substance of an extract from The Press and St. James's Chronicle,
Feb, 24, 1872,
t Dated— Rome, Dec, 23, 1869 ; p. 108. t Under date, July 12, 1871.
XXIV
The Power and Will of England.
The Fruits.
Manning's
Sermon.
Pandering to protect the Orange procession, since the Roman Catholics
Popery. ^ Oftetlj undisturbed, marched in procession through the
city. The Ribandmen, however, were not to be deterred
from violence, even by the presence of three regiments. They
fired upon both the procession and the military, encouraged,
perhaps, by their recollections of the more than exemplary
forbearance of English troops under similar provocation. They
were, however, mistaken in expecting forbearance from the
American army. The 84th regiment, which was in advance
of the procession, fired without orders. The result reported is
that thirty- one persons were killed and seventy-five were wounded.
Among the killed are two policemen and three soldiers. One
hundred and sixty-five rioters have been committed for trial."
Such is the result of American political pandering to Popery
and Ribandism.
The power of England is coveted especially by the Society.
Dr. Manning, their patron and apologist, has declared this in
no indistinct terms. The Tablet states,* that in a sermon
preached to a Roman Catholic synod, under Cardinal Wise-
man's presidency, by the present Archbishop Manning, then
Prothonotary, he made the following remarks : —
" If ever there was a land in which work was to be done, and
perhaps much to suffer, it is here. I shall not say too much if I
say, that we have to subjugate and subdue, to conquer and rule,
an imperial race. We have to do with a will, which reigns
throughout the world, as the will of old Rome reigned once.
We have to bend or to break that will, which nations and
kingdoms have found invincible and inflexible." .,.''•" Were
If conquered ? it (heresy) conquered in England it would be conquered through-
out the world. All its lines meet here ; and therefore, in
England, the Church of God must be gathered in all its strength."
These expressions, slightly varied, though the same in purport,
are found in a volume of sermons on ecclesiastical subjects, by
Dr. Manning. f It is a significant fact, that the next sermon in
this book, is one devoted to the praise of Ignatius Loyola and the
* Of August 6, 1859.
t Published by Duffy, Paternoster Row. Page Ififi.
Rebellion and attempted murder justified. xxv
Jesuit Order. At page 179 he thus justifies the rebellion of
Thomas a Becket : —
" Will it be said, as mere men of the world say, drawing their
pens fine to write the history of saints, Anselm was an arrogant Anselm.
and stubborn prelate — Becket proud and ambitious ? It was not Becket.
for Christ's sake they suffered, but for their own evil passions ;
for turbulence, obstinacy, and rebellion ; for their own faults
they were justly punished. Well, are saints faultless ? Yes,
when crowned ; not when in warfare. . . . Be it so. Saints
are men, and men are frail. . . . Let us not be told, then,
that they who stand for the name of Jesus suffer for their own
sins. No doubt they had them, but they suffered not for these.
There is a deeper and a diviner reason — a reason unchangeably
true. They had the Divine presence with them ; and they were
visibly stamped with the name they bore. They crossed the
will of the world in its pride of place and set a bound to its
pretensions. They were the shadow of a superior, and the
ministers of a higher, law. This was their true offence."
Is not this preaching a crusade ? No doubt can remain of
Dr. Manning's approval and commendation of Anselm's obstinacy
and Becket's rebellion. Again, at page 188, Dr. Manning writes : —
" St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas (Becket), will
forgive me if I say that Ignatius well repaid to them the price of
his nurture, when he gave to the Church, Bellarmine and Petavius, Jesuit doctors
Vasquez, Suarez, and De Lugo, besides newer but memorable
names." So Dr. Manning approves of the morality of the Jesuit
doctors, and exalts the founder of their order almost, if not
quite, to an equality with his admired Becket. And then, at
page 187, he writes of the Jesuit Order, that it embodies the
character of its founder, " the same energy, perseverance and
endurance. It is his own presence still prolonged, the same
perpetuated order, even in the spirit and manner of its working,
fixed, uniform, and changeless." We may agree with those his- Changeiesa-
torians, who assert that the Order of Jesuits bears the stamp rather
of Laynez, the successor of Ignatius, than of himself ; but that
the purpose, spirit, and working of the Order are unchanged, we
fully admit.
At page 191 Dr. Manning writes, that the Jesuits, who were
xxvi Forewarned, is to be Forearmed.
Manning on executed, like Garnet, for his participation in the Gunpowder
d&Pi t -Pl°^» an(^ *or °^Der scarcely minor offences, by what he sneeringly
calls " the execution of justice," are in Heaven, enrolled as
martyrs. "On earth," he writes, "they wore the garb of felons ;
in Heaven they stand arrayed in white, and crowned. Here they
were arraigned in the dock, as malefactors : there they sit by the
throne of the Son of God." *
Justification. Little doubt can remain that Dr. Manning has deliberately
justified, in these sermons, rebellion, treason, and attempted
wholesale murder, as means for effecting the subjugation of
England. And how does Dr. Manning appear to justify the
course he has thus adopted ? In these sermons, he shews
that the prosperity of England is no proof of the Divine favour ;
and at page 140, because England is Protestant and free,
with a loathsome affectation of charity, he writes : — "And all
this is true of our own land, dear to us by so many charities ;
for England now, like Rome, pagan of old, has become Sentina
gentium — the pool into which the evils of all the earth find a
way."
It cannot be said, that Dr. Manning has abandoned these
opinions, or his purpose, for they reappear in his more recently
published works ; and especially in a volume of essays, of which
he is the editor.
Romish de- We are not left in ignorance, then, of the opinions, the
principles, and the designs of the Romish Church, and of the
Jesuits in particular, with regard to our own country. As we
have said, the lessons which late events have produced, and those
which are actually uttered by the emissaries of this spiritual
tyranny, should not be lost on Englishmen. Wars, stratagems,
and proclamations of future onsets, all bespeak the necessity for
caution and vigorous self-defence in every people that will be
free.
* After this quasi canonization, might it not be asked, how far the
nation is indebted to Jesuit influence, for the discontinuation of the service
for the 5th of November attached to the Book of Common Prayer ?
XXV11
JESUITISM IN KELATION TO PAPAL
INFALLIBILITY.
The increase of Jesuit influence runs like an electric shock
through the whole Romish communion. Perhaps it would he
more accurate to say that it is the very life of Romanism.
Jesuitism is the genius of Popery skilfully reduced to a system.
As Popery is the masterpiece of priestcraft, so Jesuitism is itself
the very masterpiece of Popery. It is priestcraft so artfully
regulated as to hide its work ; caring for nothing but success.
Though its aim is alien to the spirit of true Christianity, yet it
contains nothing essentially foreign to the spirit of the Papacy.
The true character of this phase has been ably portrayed by the
learned authors of " The Pope and the Council," who write under
the name of " Janus." It is there clearly shown, that the ruling
influence has been for ages exerted, not by the Pope, as a Bishop,
but by the Curia, the really governing body at Rome.
It may be well to mention that the modern Roman Curia The Curia,
forms the Pope's privy council, and is composed of an assembly
of cardinals, prelates, and clerical State ministers, nominally the
servants, in reality the masters of the Pope.
How skilfully and unscrupulously Jacobo Antonelli, as Cardinal
Secretary, (the son and grandson of a brigand,)* has wielded the
power of the Curia, temporal and spiritual, under the direction of
the Jesuits, is well known. Now that the latter have acquired
the supreme influence in the Roman Curia itself, the two may
be considered for all practical purposes as one, since Ultramon-
tanism is but another name for Jesuitism.
It is curious to look back on Papal transactions in bygone years,
* We quote the following from tlie recent very interesting work, " The Papal
Garrison" (London : Hunt & Co. 1872), dedicated to the Marquis of Salisbury ;
p. iii. Speaking of Antonelli, "himself (as no one in Italy ventured to deny)
the son and grandson of a brigand, he had, as Governor of Viterbo, enlisted
Papal confidence by one of the most perfidious acts in the records of executive
infamy, by which parents — men of high birth and character — were inveigled
into the unsuspected betrayal of their own sons ; who were, one and all, con-
signed, at the dead of night, to the fort of Civita Castellana."
xx vm
Absolutism apparently consummated.
Laynez.
Despotism.
Archbishop
Darboy.
and observe how welcome and powerful in the Komish Commu-
nion, even long before the days of Loyola, was the spirit which
his successor, Laynez, methodised. The design of the Curia and
the Jesuits in the late pseudo- (Ecumenical Council, assembled at
Rome to proclaim the personal infallibility of the Pope, was but
the logical consummation of their efforts continued through
centuries. Bitterly hostile to all freedom, the Papacy regards
with peculiar hatred all unfettered, true Church Councils, re-
sembling those political assemblies by which the temporal
freedom of nations is guaranteed and strengthened. So a
Council still more deficient than that of Trent, in elements
really (ecumenical, has been convened, and induced to give its
authority to the coveted dogma ; and Jesuits hope that Councils
will become things of the past. Large as the authority of the
Pope was, yet, according to former ideas, even in the Romish
Church there was a limit to it. So long as the authority
of an assembly of the universal Church, consisting not merely
of the representatives of the clerical portion, but of the whole
Church, was recognised as a tribunal to which appeal could be
made from Papal decisions, the Pope's monarchy though supreme,
was limited ; and for his rule he was responsible, theoretically
at all events, to the parliament of the Church. But absolute
power appears to have worked so well for Jesuitism, that hence-
forth it is to be the rule of the entire Romish Church.
These remarks are borne out by high Roman Catholic authority,
no less than that of Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop of Paris.
In his speech on the Constitutio Dogmatica de Eccksid* the
following words occur : —
" Not only will the independent infallibility of the Pope not
destroy these prejudices and objections which draw away so
many from the faith, but it will increase and intensify them.
There are many who in heart are not alienated from the Catholic
Church, but who yet think of what they term a separation of
Church and State. It is certain that several of the leaders of
public opinion are on this side, and will take occasion from the
proposed definition to effect their object. The example of France
fc Vide, " Letters from Rome on the Council, by Quirinus," (published by
Rivingtons, 1870,) Appendix I., pp. 831, 832.
Speech of Archbishop Darboy.
xxix
will soon be copied more or less all over Europe, and to the
greatest injury of the clergy and the Church herself.
" The compilers of the Schema, whether they desire it or not, The Schema,
are introducing a new era of mischief, if the suhject-matter of
Papal infallibility is not accurately denned, or if it can be
supposed that under the head of morals the Pope will give
decisions on the civil and political acts of sovereigns and
nations, laws and rights, to which a public authority will be
attributed.*
" Every one of any political cultivation knows what seeds of
discord are contained in our Schema, and to what perils it exposes Perils,
even the temporal power of the Holy See."t
' This is emphatically asserted in a sermon preached last year
it Kensington by Archbishop Manning, where he says, speaking in the
Pope's name, ' I claim to be the supreme judge and director of the
jonsciences of men ; of the peasant that tills the field and the prince that
jits on the throne ; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy and
l,he legislature that makes laws for kingdoms — I am the sole last supreme
udge of what is right and wrong.' " (Note appended, from " Quirinus.")
f Yet in spite of the fact that Dr. Manning heard this speech and actually
•eplied to it in the Council, he has lately had the hardihood to write to the
Tliiies to deny that Monseigneur Darboy held the very opinions which he
sourageously advanced before the assembled Council at the Vatican and
vhich Dr. Manning then impugned ! Monseigneur Darboy has since been
•emoved from the scene of his labours. It is a remarkable fact that three
iiccessive Archbishops of Paris have been murdered ; they were all
lallicans in religious opinion, and opposed to the Jesuits. Monseigneur Murders of
sibour was murdered by a fanatical priest. Monseigneur Affre was shot MM. Sibour,
ipon one of the barricades of the Parisian Revolution of 1848 ; he had been, ^"re>
,s M. Cayla relates, induced to go to the barricade on a mission of peace
>y Frederick Ozanan and his allies, all Ultramontanes of the Society of
5t. Vincent de Paul, who accompanied him. M. Louis Blanc affirms, and
xlduces evidence to prove, that Monseigneur Affre was then and there shot
hrough the back. The circumstances of the murder of Archbishop Darboy
7e need not detail ; but the fact, that the name Cluseret was merely an
lias, adopted by the Fenian McAuliff, is significant.
With regard to the late Archbishop, it can never be forgotten that in a
3tter to him, which will be found at the end of this volume, the Pope
iolently upbraided him, and actually threatened him with punishment, for
imply doing his duty as a Gallican Bishop, and for carrying out in
ractice the principles which he afterwards so forcibly enunciated before
he Council.
d
xxx Infallibility and the Canon Lair.
Opinions of The opinions of Bishop Strossmeyer, as given in the same book ,
Strosi!" are to the like effect. His conclusions are ably summed up in the
following extract from a recently published letter : —
"The canon law, however objectionable, arbitrary, and even
revolutionary some of its provisions may be, was a laic, and a law
binding upon the Pope, to a certain extent, which could not be
fundamentally altered, except by a Council called (Ecumenical.
National, local, episcopal, and certain other official and personal
rights, exemptions, privileges, and other properties, were recog-
nised by, or had grown up, whether by custom or otherwise,
under the canon law which protected them. Since the declaration
of the Infallibility it appears to me that the canon law itself, and
the rights and properties thereon dependent, can be, all or any of
them, annulled or altered by a dictum of the Pope, when such
dictum is pronounced ex cathedra, and that to such pronounce-
ment no Council such as that of last year is henceforth to be
necessary, but that such pronouncement of its Infallibility as
conferring universal authority upon such dictum is to be uttered
by some conclave of persons immediately attached to, or resident
in, the immediate vicinity of the Pope. It follows that the
Roman Catholic bishops must henceforth be the mere organs
and agents of the Pope for the enforcement, pro posse, of such
dicta."
Montaiembert ^e following extracts from a letter* of the late Count Monta-
lembert are also strongly confirmatory of the opinions which we
have expressed.
" Never, thank Heaven, have I thought, said, or written any-
thing favourable to the personal and separate infallibility of the
Pope, such as it is sought to impose upon us ; nor to the theo-
cracy, the dictatorship of the Church, which I did my best to
reprobate in that history of the ' Monks of the West ' of which
you are pleased to appreciate the laborious fabric ; nor to that
'Absolutism of Rome ' of which the speech, that you quote,
disputed the existence, even in the middle ages, but which to-day
forms the symbol and the programme of the faction dominant
among us. At the same time I willingly admit, that, if I have
nothing to cancel, I should have a great deal to add. I sinned
* Dated, Paris, Feb. 28th, 1870. Vide page 208 of the present work.
Letter of Count Montalembert. xxxi
by omission, or rather by want of foresight. I said, ' Gallicanism
is dead, because it made itself the servant of the State ; you have
now only to inter it.' I think I then spoke the truth. It was Gallicanism
dead, and completely dead. How, then, has it risen again ? I
do not hesitate to reply, that it is in consequence of the lavish
encouragement given, under the Pontificate of Pius IX., to ex-
aggerated doctrines, outraging the good sense, as well as the
honour of the human race — doctrines, of which not even the
coming shadow was perceptible under the Parliamentary monarchy.
There are wanting, then, to that speech, as to the one I made in
the National Assembly on the Roman expedition, essential reser-
vations against spiritual despotism, and against absolute monarchy,
which I have detested in the State, and which does not inspire me
with less repugnance in the Church. But, in 1847, what could
give rise to a suspicion that the liberal Pontificate of Pius IX.,
acclaimed by all the Liberals of the two worlds, would become
the Pontificate represented and personified by the Univers and
the Ciwlta ? In the midst of the unanimous cries then uttered
by the clergy in favour of liberty as in Belgium, of liberty in
everything and for all, how could we foresee, as possible, the
incredible wheelabout of almost all that same clergy in 1852 —
the enthusiasm of most of the Ultramontane doctors for the
revival of Caesarisrn ? The harangues of Monseigneur Parisis, MM- Parisia
the charges of Monseigneur de Salinis, and especially the
permanent triumph of those lay theologians of absolutism, who
began by squandering all our liberties, all our principles, all our
former ideas, before Napoleon III., and afterwards immolated
justice and truth, reason and history, in one great holocaust to
the idol they raised up for themselves at the Vatican ? If that
word, idol, seems to you too strong, please to lay the blame
on what Mouseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, wrote to me
on the 10th of September, 1853 : — •' The new Ultramontane Sibour on
school leads us to a double idolatry — the idolatry of the temporal
power, and of the spiritual power. When you formerly, like
ourselves, M. le Comte, made loud professions of Ultramon-
tanism, you did not understand things thus. We defended the
independence of the spiritual power against the pretensions and
encroachments of the temporal power, but we respected the con-
d 2
XXX11
Count Montalemberfs Letter continued.
Power and
Power.
Bishop of
Orleans.
stitution of the State, and the constitution of the Church. "We
did not do away with all intermediate power, all hierarchy, all
reasonable discussion, all legitimate resistance, all individuality,
all spontaneity. The Pope and the Emperor >vere not, one the
whole Church, and the other the whole State. Doubtless there
are times when the Pope may set himself above all the rules which
are only for ordinary times, and when his power is as extensive
as the necessities of the Church. The old Ultramontanes kept
this in mind, but they did not make a rule of the exception. The
new Ultramontanes have pushed everything to extremes, and
have abounded in hostile arguments against all liberties — those
of the State as well as those of the Church — against the serious
religious interests at the present time, and especially at a future day.
One might be content with despising them, but when one has a
presentiment of the evils, they are preparing for us, it is difficult
to be silent and resigned. You have therefore done well, M. le
Comte, to stigmatise them.' Thus, sir, did the pastor of the
largest diocese in Christendom express himself seventeen years
ago, congratulating me upon one of my first protests against the
spirit, which, since then, I have never ceased to combat. For it
is not to-day, but in 1852, that I began to struggle against the
detestable political and religious aberrations which make up con-
temporary Ultrarnontanism. Here, then, traced by the pen of
an Archbishop of Paris, is the explanation of the mystery that
preoccupies you, and of the contrast you point out between my
Ultramontanism of 1847 and my Gallicauism of 1870. There-
fore, without having either the will or the power to discuss the
question, now debated in the Council, I hail with the most
grateful admiration, first, the great and generous Bishop of
Orleans, then the eloquent and intrepid priests, who have had
the courage to stem the torrent of adulation, imposture, and
servility, by which we run the risk of being swallowed up.
Thanks to them, Catholic France will not have remained too
much below Germany, Hungary, and America."
In a note* below will be seen what the French Church has held
* For the sake of those who do not know what Gallicauism means, we give the
following text of the celebrated declaration of the Clergy of 1682, which asserts the
freedom of the Galliran Church, and is known as " The Four Articles" :—
Rome, the Church, and the People, xxxiii
as to the limits of Papal authority. Henceforth of course these
Grallicau opinions are utterly untenable, since the Pope has been
declared sole, infallible, judge of his own rights. But the result
proves that even the limited freedom claimed by the French
National Church is an impossibility, so long as the Pope's
authority is acknowledged in any degree whatever. There is no
medium between absolute slavery to the spiritual despot and
total renunciation of his authority. Union with Eome is abso-
lutely incompatible with the freedom of a Church and People. Incompatible
Of this fact there is no question, even in the mind of the Minister
of a Roman Catholic country like Bavaria. In his letter to the
Archbishop of Munich, the Minister states, that the Dogma
mainly claims to draw, and has drawn, within the jurisdiction of
the Pope, such matters as belong to the sphere of the State, so
that all citizens would for the future have to take laws from the
hand of the Pope, which might possibly be in antagonism to the
ruling principles of modern States.* But it is not only that the
freedom, the very existence of a Church, as such, is ipso facto
impossible, so long as one decree of her infallible Pope can at any
moment change or annul her canons, her acts, and her constitu-
" Article 1. St. Peter and Ms successors, and the Church itself, received from Gallican
Almighty God power over spiritual things only, not over political matters, Christ Articles,
having said : ' My kingdom is not of this world.' Consequently kings and princes
cannot be deposed either directly or indirectly, nor can subjects be liberated from their
oaths of allegiance, by the authority of the heads of the Church. And this doctrine
must be inviolably received as conformable to the word of God, to the traditions of the
Fathers, and to the example of the saints.
"Article 2. The full power of the Apostolic See and of the successors of Peter is
such that the decrees of the Holy (Ecumenical Council of Constance, approved of by
the Apostolic See, (and which declared that general councils were superior to the Pope
in matters of faith,) subsist in all their force and virtue.
"Article 3. Thence it results that the action of Apostolic power must be regulated
according to the canons ; that the rules, the manners, and the constitutions, received
in this kingdom and by the Gallican Church must ever remain hi vigour, and the limits
appointed by our fathers must remain unchanged.
1 ' Article 4. The Sovereign Pontiff has the principal power in questions of faith,
and his decree extends over all Churches ; his decision, however, is not irrevocable
until the consent of the Church has confirmed it." — See " On the Knee of the Church,"
2nd Edition. London : Macintosh, 1869. Chapter IV., pp. 73, 74.
* Letter from the Bavarian Minister of Public Worship to the Archbishop
of Munich, Aug. 27, 1871.
xxxiv Celebrated Letter of Dr. Dollinyer.
Freedom im- tion, and even the articles of her faith. Roman Catholics, in all
countries, are now beginning to find that Papal supremacy, how-
ever long kept in bounds, really means in the eyes of the usurper,
the possession of uncontrolled dominion.
This absolute power is now assumed, in spite of the natural
resistance of mankind, and has carried the absurd pretensions, by
which the Popes have obtained their present usurped authority,
one step further. Popes have succeeded in inducing nations
" to believe a lie," and to submit to their rule as spiritual chiefs,
by clever devices and a continuous succession of ingenious
forgeries, dating from the middle of the ninth century ; so now the
last advance of all is made, and the Roman Pontiff is proclaimed,
absolutely and without appeal, Lord over all. In order to fulfil
this, he must be supposed infallible ; for his claim is spiritual,
and he must be endowed with highest spiritual attributes. The
celebrated letter of Dr. Dollinger, which is given in full at the
end of the present volume,* puts the subject in a remarkably
strong light ; more especially in the following forcible sentences,
with which it concludes : —
" He who wishes to measure the immense range of these reso-
lutions [of the Council] may be urgently recommended to com-
pare thoroughly the third chapter of the decrees in Council with
the fourth ; and to realise for himself what a system of universal
Plenary power, g0yernment and spiritual dictation stands here before us. It is
lity.rejected. the plenary power over the whole Church, as over each separate
member, such as the Popes have claimed for themselves since
Gregory VII., such as is pronounced in the numerous Bulls
since the Bull Unam Sanctum, which is henceforth to be
believed and acknowledged in his life by every Catholic. This
power is boundless, incalculable ; it can, as Innocent III. said,
' strike at sin everywhere ' ; can punish every man, allows of no
Supremacy, appeal, is sovereign and arbitrary, for, according to Bonafacius
VIII., ' the Pope carries all rights in the shrine of his bosom.' "
That is, the Pope is made supreme over all Canon law and univer-
sally absolute. " As he has now become infallible, he can in one
moment, with the one little word orU, (that is, that he addresses
I ""A-1,
Celebrated Letter of Dr. Dollinger. xxxv
himself to the whole Church) make every thesis, every doctrine, Infallibility
every demand an unerring and irrefragable article of faith. Against
him there can be maintained no right, no personal or corporate
freedom ; or, as the Canonists say, the tribunal of God and that
of the Pope are one and the same. This system bears its Hoinish
origin on its forehead, and will never be able to penetrate in
Germanic countries. As a Christian, as a Theologian, as a His-
torian, as a Citizen, I cannot accept this doctrine. Not as a A
Christian, for it is irreconcilable with the spirit of the Gospel, Christian,
and with the plain words of Christ and the Apostles ; it purposes
just that establishment of the kingdom of this world, which
Christ rejected ; it claims that rule over all communions which
Peter forbids to all and to himself. Not as a theologian, for the As a theolo-
whole true tradition of the Church is in irreconcilable opposition gian'
to it. Not as a historian can I accept it, for as such I know that As a historian,
the persistent endeavour to realise the theory of a kingdom of the
world has cost Europe rivers of blood, has confounded and de-
graded whole countries, has shaken the beautiful organic archi-
tecture of the elder Church, and has begotten, fed, and sustained
the worst abuses in the Church. Finally, as a citizen, I must As a citizen,
reject this dogma, because by its claims on the submission of
states and monarchs, and of the whole political order, under the
Papal power, and by the exceptional position which it claims for
the clergy, it lays the foundation of endless, ruinous disputes
between State and Church, between clergy and laity ; for I
cannot conceal from myself, that this doctrine, the results of
which were the ruin of the old German kingdom, would, if
governing the Catholic part of the German nation, at once lay
the seed of incurable decay in the new kingdom which has just
been built up."
Jesuits obey their General because they have voluntarily Jesuits bound
sworn to do so. But the Homish Church is to be subjected to
the Pope's absolute sway in spite of itself, by the advance of his
pretensions to godlike qualifications. The Pope being now above
criticism and beyond control, the office of General of the Jesuits
might become merged in the Popedom ; and thus Jesuitism reign
supreme. Or if the two offices be kept distinct, still a Pope can
be managed more easily than an assembly : because if restive,
XXXVI
The Pope and the Order.
he may learn that, though infallible, he is not immortal.
Clement xiv. Ganganclli found out to his cost, when as Clement XIV., he
boldly suppressed the Jesuit Order.
Had not the wonderful organisation, discipline, and unscrupu-
lous skill in deception, so perfectly developed in the Jesuit Order,
been united to the Papal system, the Order could never have so
successfully wielded its baneful influence in enslaving the human
mind. Happily there is some hope of an awakening. The claims
of the Papacy have become so exaggerated, that, even among the
most submissive disciples of the Romish Church, a spirit of
enquiry has been gradually developed ; and most zealous and
learned and honest endeavours have been made to arrive at an
understanding of the foundation on which the Pope's authority
rests. The more this has been enquired into, the more impressed
have ingenuous minds become, with the evidences of unfairness
and craftiness that have met them in the progress of their
researches.
Janus. Nothing can be more interesting or valuable in this direc-
tion than the work to which we have already referred, " The
Pope and the Council.'' The earlier chapters treating of the
influence of Jesuitism, the Roman Syllabus, and the new dogma
of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, are well worthy of notice.
Nor are the succeeding remarks, on the position of the Bishops of
Rome in the ancient Church, and the teaching of the Fathers on the
Primacy, in any way less remarkable and valuable. But, what
Forgeries. is most striking is the record of the various forgeries, by which
the Popes have arrived at their assumed position of spiritual
lords over the whole of mankind.
Space will not allow of more than a few extracts on this point.
The reader is earnestly advised to study this remarkable work
in its entirety, and he will derive abundant profit from the
Isidorisn De- perusal. Speaking of the forgeries known as the " Isidorian
Decretals," which were concocted about A.D. 845, for the purpose
of giving some show of authority for the papal usurpation, the
writer observes : —
" It would be difficult to find in all history a second instance
of so successful and yet so clumsy a forgery. For three centuries
past it has been exposed, yet the principles which it introduced
cretals.
"Janus," or "The Pope ami the Council." xxxvii
and brought into practice have taken such deep root in the soil Forgeries.
'of the Church, and have so grown into her life, that the exposure
of the fraud has produced no result in shaking the dominant system.
"About a hundred pretended decrees of the earliest Popes,
together with certain spurious writings of other churcb digni- Decrees,
taries and acts of Synods, were then fabricated in the west of
Gaul and eagerly seized upon by Pope Nicholas I. at Rome, to
be used as genuine documents in support of the new claims put
forward by himself and his successors."*
Pope Nicholas I., by carrying out this same system of forgery
and deceit, extended his tyranny over a great extent of territory. Nicholas I.
Foisting on the ignorant nations spurious documents, and altering
true ones, he tried to impose his yoke universally. " By a bold
but non-natural torturing of a single word against the sense of a
whole code of laws, he managed to give a twist to a canon of a
general council which actually excluded all appeals to Rome, so
as to make it appear to give to the whole clergy, in the East and
"West, a right of appeal to Rome, and he made the Pope the supreme
judge of all bishops and clergy of the whole world. He wrote
this to the Eastern Emperor, to Charles, King of the Franks, and
to all the Frankish Bishops. And he referred the Orientals, and
so sharp-sighted a man as Photius, to those fabrications fathered
on Popes Silvester and Sixtus, which were thenceforth used for °
centuries, and gained the Roman Church the oft-repeated reproach
from the Greeks of .being the native home of inventions and falsi-
fications of documents." f
Truly were the Easterns right in their reproach, Jesuitism is
but the outcome of the essence and spirit of the papacy. This
spirit of deceit and fraud was further manifested by other
forgeries subsequent to those of the pseudo-Isidore, which will
be found noticed and exposed in "Janus."* The authors show
how plentifully such work was done in the Hildebrandine Era,
and how, when the Pope wished to steal his neighbours' land,
spurious deeds of gift, called the Donations of Constantino, of Donations.
Pepin, and of Charlemagne, were fabricated, as they were wanted.
* The Pope and the Council ; by " Janus." London : Rivingtons, 1869 ; p. 95.
t Ibid., p. 98.
x. \xviii Protest against Papal Pretensions and Fraud*.
Canon of
Sardica.
Prance.
Gratiy.
Honorius.
" If we look at the whole papal system of universal monarchy
as it has been gradually built up during seven centuries, and is-
now being energetically pushed on to its final completion, we can
clearly distinguish the separate stones the building is composed
of. For a long time all that was done was to interpret the canon
of Sardica," (in a sense exactly opposite to its plain meaning)
" so as to extend the appellant jurisdiction of the Pupe to what-
ever could be brought under the general and elastic term of
'greater causes.' But from the end of the fifth century the
papal pretensions had advanced to a point beyond this, in conse-
quence of the attitude assumed by Leo and Gelasius ; and from
that time began a course of systematic fabrications, sometimes
manufactured in Ptome, sometimes originating elsewhere, but
adopted and utilized there."*
The same spirit of protest against such iniquitous proceedings
is also gaining ground and manifesting itself in other Roman
Catholic countries besides Germany, and notably in France. The
eloquent and convincing letters of " Father " Gratiy were evidence
of this, and the very extensive sale which those letters have had,
is an additional proof of the great sympathy of the French
people with the sentiments contained in them. Father Gratry is
no more.f The Ultramontane journals assert that he recanted be-
fore his death ; but add, that before he died, he was for some days
speechless. Remembering, as we do, the precipitate haste with
which these same authorities proclaimed that the murdered Arch-
bishop of Paris, M. Darboy, had, at the last, been likewise faithless
to his convictions against the dogmas of the Council, including that
of the Infallibility ; and that now the Abbe Michaud, the Cure of
the Madelene, has refuted this pretence, we a're not disposed to
place any reliance upon the reports of Father Gratry's recantation.
But whether, in the last struggle of nature, he may or may not have
uttered some incoherent words, or have made some sign, which the
Ultramontanes use for their own purposes, still, the facts which he
deliberately recorded in his first letter, such as the condemnation
of Pope Honorius, by the sixth (Ecumenical CDuncil, as a heretic,
the statement of this fact in all the ancient Roman Breviaries for
the 28th day of June, together with the disappearance in late
* The Pope and the Council, p. 122.
t He died, after a short illness, at the age of 67, in Switzerland, early last Feb.
Father Gratry's Letter to Archbishop of Malms. xxxix
editions of this record of a Pope's condemnation for heresy ; these A Pope a
facts remain, and can be proved by other evidence. Thus P. Gratry
remarks, " F. Gamier in the preface to his edition of the Liber
Din mm (1680) with simple irony says that this has been done
for the sake of brevity : 'mine aliter ista, bremusque leguntur.' ''
" Thus the ancient breviary, from which I have just quoted,
enumerates the names of the heretics condemned in the sixth
Council, and it defines the heresy for which they were condemned.
Honorius is one of the number. The correcting hand, which has
edited the breviary (since the edition of 1520) suppresses, for the Suppression.
sake of brevity, this ' little " incident of the condemnation of a Pope
by an (Ecumenical Council. Are such falsifications to be tolerated ?
" Here, Monseigneur, is one of the frauds by which you have Frauds.
been deceived. I will point out others of the same sort, all of
them perpetrated in the same sense and in order to arrive at the
same end, UNIVERSAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE SOVEREIGNTY.
" Yes, you have been deceived by a complete and plausible
collection of false assertions, the result of great ignorance and
want of regard for truth, which, for a long time, have prevailed
about this subject. It is a method of treatment, apologetic in
character and breathing a polemical spirit, which doubtless is not
of recent birth, and which the sacred Scriptures of old condemned
in those divine and terrible words, very necessary to be meditated
upon — ' Doth God require your lies ; that you should utter Lies,
deceits to promote His glory ? Numquid indiget Deus mendacio
vestro, lit pro eo loquamini dolos ?'
" This sharp reproof is addressed by Job to his friends, who set
themselves to vindicate Providence by false reasoning. Are these
friends of Job such wretches, then; so false; such shameless liars?
No ; they belong to a class of men, including nearly the whole of
those who, all of them, or nearly all, when they believe that they
are defending a good cause, uphold it by all means, accumulate
false reasons, of which they themselves perceive the worthless-
ness, conceal the facts that cause them embarrassment, and bring
forward uncertain facts, respecting which they are in doubt,
even while they state them. Now it is this duplicity of the Duplicity,
highest degree, which the Holy Spirit disapproves of, or, to speak
more correctly, denounces by the reproach, ' Doth God require
your frauds and your lies ?'
xl Infallibility; Suppression Brief oj Clem. XIV.
Treating further on (p. 70) in the same letter, of the forgeries
contained in the Isidorian Decretals, so ably exposed by Janus in
Germany, Father Gratry protests against them and against the
arguments alleged by unscrupulous advocates in their favour. He
adopts, as the expression of his own conviction, the declaration of
another French Roman Catholic priest respecting these frauds.
"I prefer," says he, "the noble judgment of Father de Regnon.
Father Keg- M. (Je Regnon makes the following plain statement : ' Never, it
foTgerie?6 must be acknowledged, never was there seen a forgery so auda-
cious, so extensive, so solemn, so persevering.' And, let us add,
never was there a forgery which has been for ages so successful.
Yes ; the forger has atttained his end. He has changed the
regulation of ecclesiastical affairs according to his desire ; but he
has not arrested the general decay. The ' false Decretals ' have
produced nothing but evil."*
Evil fruit. If Father Regnon declares the product evil, the tree, root and
branch, must also be evil; and a corrupt tree cannot "bring forth
good fruit." f The applicability of this remark to the Dogma, as
the product of a massive body of false decretals, forgeries, and
untruth, time will shew.
But Papal Infallibility embraces all time— the past, as well as
the present and the future ; therefore the Pope having always been
infallible, according to his own declarations, in how sad a plight
are the Jesuits ! For this infallible authority has proclaimed the
Society of Jesus to be infamous. From the " Brief for the Effec-
Re tual Suppression of the Order of the Jesuits" % drawn up and
Tmptor. 6" signed by Clement XIV., in 1773, the following extracts will
prove in what a light the Pope regarded the "Company."
After declaring the purpose for which it was instituted and the
various privileges granted by Paul III. and subsequent Popes,
the Brief of Suppression goes on to say :—
Brief of Sup- „ Notwithstanding so many and so great favours, it appears
pression,1773. . .,
from the Apostolical Constitutions that almost at the very moment
* Etudes Religeuses, Novembre, 1866. (Voir, egalement, Novembre, 1804.)
i Matt. vii. 18.
t This Brief begins with, and is known by, the words Dominus fir
Redemptnr.
Brief for Suppression of the Jesuits, 1773. xli
of its institution there arose in the bosom of this Society divers
seeds of discord and dissension, not only among the companions internal dis-
themselves, but with other regular orders, the secular clergy, cord-
the academies, the universities, the public schools, and lastly even
with the princes of the states in which the Society was received.
" These dissensions and disputes arose sometimes concerning
the nature of their vows, the time of admission to them, the
power of expulsion, the right of admission to holy orders without
a title, and without having taken the solemn vows, contrary to
the tenor of the decrees of the Council of Trent and of Pius V.
our predecessor : sometimes concerning the absolute authority
assumed by the General of the said Order, and about matters
relating to the good government and discipline of the Order;
sometimes concerning different points of doctrine, concerning
their schools, or concerning such of their exemptions and privi-
leges as the ordinaries and other ecclesiastical or civil officers
declared to be contrary to their rights and jurisdiction. In
short, accusations of the gravest nature and very detrimental to Protests
the peace and tranquillity of the Christian commonwealth, have a»amst them-
been continually brought against the said Order. Hence arose that
infinity of appeals and protests against this Society, which so
many sovereigns have laid at the foot of the throne of our
predecessors, Paul IV., Pius V., and Sixtus V."
The Brief goes on to state, that in consequence of these and a
further appeal, Sixtus V., convinced that tbe complaints against
the excessive privileges of the Society, and their form of govern-
ment, and the various accusations laid against the Order, "were just
and well-founded, did, without hesitation, comply therewith." He
appointed a visitor and a congregation of cardinals to investigate.
"But this Pontiff having been carried off by a premature death, Sixtus V. dies,
this wise undertaking remained without effect." The succeeding
Pope, Gregory XI Y., not liking the idea, as we may well suppose,
of being " carried off by a premature death " if he could help it,
" approved of the institution of the Society in its utmost extent." Restoration
He confirmed all their privileges. "He ordained, and that*1 xiv!§
under pain of excommunication, that all proceedings against the
Society should be quashed, and that no person whatever should
presume directly or indirectly to attack the institution, constitu-
xlii Clem. XIV.'s Brief to Suppress the Jesuits, 1773.
t lay ^
for
tions or decrees of the said Society, or attempt in any way what-
ever to make changes therein." He gave leave, however, to any
one of the Jesuits to appeal to himself.
The Brief of Suppression goes on to say that these fresh
evidences of papal goodwill were in vain ; disorders and dissen-
sions continued ; accusations were multiplied ; the Society was
continually convicted of " insatiable avidity of temporal posses-
Under Paul v. sions," although avowing poverty, as its rule. The result was,
£ un(jer pau} v. the Society were compelled, by the force of
circumstances, to humble themselves and sue for papal favour, by
reason of their misdeeds and consequent difficulties.
The Brief declares further, that evils continued to multiply.
The names of eleven popes are given who tried in vain to find
a remedy, or in any degree to mitigate the evils. " Certain
idolatrous ceremonies were adopted in certain places in contempt
of the Catholic Church ; " and complaint was made of " the use
and explanation of various maxims which the Holy See has with
reason proscribed as scandalous, and plainly contrary to good
morals;" as also of "the revolts and intestine troubles in some
Restrictions. Of the Catholic States," caused by Jesuits. Restrictions were
put on the Society by Innocent XI. and XIII., by Benedict
XIV. ; and they were restricted to their present members, and
forbidden to admit new ones.
The Brief continues in the following words : —
"The late apostolic letter of Clement XIII., of blessed memory,
our immediate predecessor, by which the institute of the Society
of Jesus was again approved and recommended, was far from
bringing any comfort to the Holy See, or any advantage to the
Christian Commonwealth. Indeed, this letter was rather
extorted than granted, to use the expression of Gregory X. in the
General Council of Lyons.
"After so many storms, troubles and divisions, every good
man looked forward with impatience to the happy day which
was to restore peace and tranquillity. But under the reign of
this same Clement XIII., the times became more full of difficulty
and storm; complaints and quarrels were multiplied on every
side ; in some places dangerous seditions arose, tumults, discords,
Scandal. scandals, which, weakening or entirely breaking the bonds of
Clement's Brief of Suppression, 1773 — continued. xliii
Christian charity, excited the faithful to all the rage of party hatred
and enmities. Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that Expelled from
the very sovereigns whose piety and liberality towards the Society Franc^Spam,
were so well known, as to be looked upon as hereditary in their
families — we mean our dearly beloved sons in Christ, the Kings
of France, Spain, Portugal and Sicily— found themselves reduced
to the necessity of expelling and driving from their states,
kingdoms, and provinces, these very companions of Jesus;
persuaded that there remained no other remedy to so great
evils ; and that this step was necessary in order to prevent
Christians from rising one against another, and from massacring
each other in the very bosom of our common mother the Holy
Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus Christ having since
considered, that even this remedy was not sufficient for recon-
ciling the whole Christian world, unless the said Society was
absolutely abolished and suppressed, made known their demands
and wishes in this matter to our said predecessor Clement XIII.
They united their common prayers and authority to obtain that
this last method might be put in practice, as the only one capable
of assuring the constant repose of their subjects and the good of
Susuicious
the Catholic Church in general. But the unexpected death of the Death Of
aforesaid pontiff rendered this project abortive. Clement XIIL
" As soon as by the Divine mercy and providence we were
raised to the chair of St. Peter, the same prayers, demands, and
wishes, were laid before us, and strengthened by the pressing
solicitations of many bishops, and other persons of distinguished
rank, learning and piety. But, that we might choose the wisest
course in a matter of so much moment, we determined not
to be precipitate, but to take due time ; not only to examine
attentively, weigh carefully and take counsel wisely, but also
by unceasing prayers to ask of the Father of lights, His particular
assistance under these circumstances ; exhorting the faithful to
co-operate with us by their prayers and good works in obtaining
this needful succour."
After remarking on what the Council of Trent had decided
with respect to the clergy who were members of this Society,
the Brief proceeds : —
" Actuated by so many and important considerations, and, as
xliv Clement's Brief of Suppression, 1773 — continued.
Grounds for wo hope, aided by the presence and inspiration of the Holy
suppression. gpirit . compelled also by the necessity of our office, which
strictly obliges us to conciliate, maintain and confirm the peace
and tranquillity of the Christian Commonwealth, and remove
every obstacle which may tend to trouble it ; having further
considered that the said Society of Jesus can no longer produce
those abundant fruits, and those great advantages, with a view
to which it was instituted, approved by so many of our predecessors,
and endowed with so many and extensive privileges : that, on
the contrary, it was difficult, not to say impossible, that the
Church could recover a firm and lasting peace so long as the said
Society subsisted : in consequence hereof, and determined by the
particular reasons we have alleged, and forced by other motives
which prudence and the good government of the Church have
dictated, the knowledge of which we keep to ourselves, con-
forming ourselves to the example of our predecessors, and
particularly to that of Gregory X., in the General Council of
Lyons ; the rather as in the present case we are determining
upon the fate of a Society classed among the mendicant orders,
both by its constitution and privileges ; after a mature deliberation,
we do, out of our certain knowledge and the fulness of our apostoli-
cal power, SUPPRESS AND ABOLISH THE SAID SOCIETY : we deprive
Their pro- it of all power of action whatever, of its houses, schools, colleges,
Sited confis" hospitals, lands, and in short, every other place whatever, in
whatever kingdom or province they may be situated ; we
abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees and con-
stitutions, even though confirmed by oath and approved by the
Holy See, or otherwise ; in like manner we annul all and every
its privileges, favours general or particular, the tenor whereof
is, and is taken to be as fully and as amply expressed in
this present Brief, as if the same were inserted, word for word,
in whatever clauses, form, or decree, or under whatever sanction,
their privileges may have been conceived. We declare every
authority of all kinds, the General, the Provincials, the Visitors
Offices and other Superiors of the said Society, to be for ever annulled
annulled. an(j extinguished, of what nature soever the said authority may
be, whether relating to things spiritual or temporal."*
* For proof of a direct conflict of authority between two Popes, see the
letter to the Archbishop of Paris by the present Pope, at the end of this work.
Clement's Brief of Suppression, 1773 — continued. xlv
The Brief goes on to transfer all the authority to the Ordi- Clerics to join
naries ; and orders, that all Jesuits who had not as yet received '
holy orders, might dispose of themselves as they pleased; all
clerics were to join other regular orders, or become secular priests.
If any Jesuits were allowed to become teachers of youth "in
any college or school, care " was to " be taken that they should
have no part in the government or direction of the same."
After other directions the Brief proceeds : — " We likewise
abrogate all the prerogatives which had been granted to them,
by their General and other Superiors, in virtue of the privileges
obtained from sovereign Pontiffs, and by which they were per-
mitted to read heretical and impious books, proscribed by the
Holy See ; likewise the power which they enjoyed, of not
observing the stated fasts, and of eating flesh on fast-days ;
likewise the faculty of reciting the prayers called the canonical
hours, and all other like privileges ; our firm intention being that
they do conform themselves in all things to the manner of living
of the secular priests, and to the general rules of the Church.
" Further, we do ordain that after the publication of this our Brief to
letter, no person do presume to suspend the execution thereof, forc
under colour, title, or pretence of any action, appeal, relief,
explanation of doubts which may arise, or any other pretext
whatever, foreseen or not foreseen. Our will and meaning is,
that the suppression and destruction of the said Society, and of all
its parts, shall have an immediate and instantaneous effect in the
manner here above set forth : and that under pain of the greater
excommunication, to be immediately incurred by whosoever shall
presume to create the least impediment, or obstacle, or delay in
the execution of this our will : the said excommunication not to be
taken off but by ourselves, or our successors, the Roman Pontiffs."
The Brief was not to be a temporary measure ; the express
words of the latter part being: — "Our will and pleasure is that
these our letters shall be for ever and to all eternity valid, Valid for ever.
permanent, and efficacious, have and obtain their full force and
•effect ; and be inviolably observed by all and every person whom
they may concern, now or hereafter, in any manner whatever."
xlvi Clement's Brief of Suppression, 1773 — concluded.
"Lastly, our will and pleasure is, that to all copies of the
present Brief, signed by a notary-public, and sealed by some
dignitary of the Church, the same force and credit shall be given
as to this original.
" Given at Rome, at St. Mary the Greater,
under the Seal of the Fisherman, the
21st day of July, 1773, in the fifth year
of our Pontificate."
Jesuit statis- It is worthy of remark, that at the time of the suppression of
the Order, now nearly a century ago, the Society numbered 39
houses of professed members, 669 colleges, 61 noviciates, 196
seminaries, 335 residences, 223 missions, and 22,782 members,
dispersed everywhere. Among its members were 24 cardinals,
6 electors of the empire, 19 princes ; and, though the consti-
tutions forbid Jesuits to be bishops, there were 21 Jesuit arch-
bishops, and 121 bishops. And according to the accounts of their
historians they may be reckoned as possessing property in various
kingdoms worth forty millions sterling, though they vowed poverty !
Jesuits con- Never was a more scathing denunciation of any society penned
/ ^an ig ^is crushing exposure of the evils of Jesuitism ; and if
ever a Pope spoke "ex cathedra," Pope Clement XIV. did, when
he thus powerfully and judicially condemned the constitution and
malignant tendency of the Great Secret Society. It is a marvel,
to those who peruse this document and look on the present
progress of papal affairs from the outside, to see with what fiery
and unscrupulous zeal, the very Society, thus denounced and
crushed, has been seeking to establish the infallibility of the
same authority that condemned it, and covered it with
everlasting ignominy. If the Pope be infallible, then nothing
can be more certain than that the Society .of Jesus is a
curse upon the Christian religion and the human race. It would
be vain to try to blacken the Order more completely, or to
give it more crushing censure, than does the infallible head
of the Romish communion, in his singularly calm and well-
reasoned Brief of Suppression. To ordinary observers, there seems
no way of escape from the dilemma. It is impossible for Protest-
ants to add, or even to wish to add, to its completeness and force.
Cardinal Lorenzo Ganyamlli. xlvii
To give undue weight to the personal character of any Pope Calumny.
in defence or support of any of his acts, is neither consistent with
our ideas of what is due to the subject matter of this work, nor
with a just appreciation of the facts upon which such Pope may
have acted judicially, but inasmuch as it has been the policy of
the Ultramontanes to vilify the memory of Clement the XIV.,
we quote the description of his character and disposition given in
Ranke's History of the Popes.*
" Of all the Cardinals, Lorenzo Ganganelli was without Character of
question the mildest and most moderate. In his youth his tutor
said to him, ' that it was no wonder he loved music, for that all
was harmony within him.' He grew up in innocent intercourse
with a small circle of friends, combined with retirement from the
world and solitary study, which led him deeper and deeper into
the sublime mysteries of true theology. In lie manner as he
turned from Aristotle to Plato, in whom he found more full
satisfaction of soul, so he quitted the Schoolmen for the Fathers,
and them again for the Holy Scriptures, which he studied with all
the devout fervour of a mind convinced of the revelation of the
Word. From this well-spring he drank in that pure and calm
enthusiasm which sees God in everything, and devotes itself to
the service of man. His religion was not zeal, persecution, lust
of dominion, polemical vehemence ; but peace, charity, lowliness of
mind and inward harmony. The incessant bickerings of the Holy
See with the Catholic States, which shook the foundations of the
Church, were utterly odious to him. His moderation was not
weakness or a mere bending to necessity, but spontaneous bene-
volence and native graciousness of temper."
The advocates of the Society may urge that what one
Pope destroyed another re-established : but this does not mend
the matter. This double-dealing on the part of the Roman Double deal.
Pontiffs may indeed suggest the thought that it is a very odd in£-
sort of infallibility that the Roman bishop is possessed of; which
says one thing at one time and another thing at another ; which
makes one Pope unsay what another has most solemnly recorded
as being the decision of the Holy Spirit. It is not for us to
* Raiike's " History of the Popes," vol. iii., pp. 212—214.
xlviii
, or the Bulk of 1773 8f 1814.
1814.
Pius VII.
The Jesuits
restored.
reconcile this shuffling with the candour and openness which
should characterize the minister of truth. In fact there is herein
Janus. furnished another of those proofs, of which " Janus "* brings
forward so many, to show that this pretention to infallibility is an
utter fallacy and absurdity, revolting to common sense, and in-
sulting to the Most High.
Yet we cannot ignore the fact, nor can Jesuits themselves
deny, that, to a certain extent, Pius VII. , in his Bull re-establishing
the Society of Jesus in 1814, by his silence on the very points
which led Clement XIV. to suppress the same order, allowed and
endorsed the truth and validity of the accusations adduced by
Clement. The " infallible " king of human souls, Pius VII., when,
for political purposes, he promulgated his Bull giving a new life
to the Company, does not utter a word that implies condemnation
of the Brief of his predecessor. The terrible accusations brought
against them are allowed to pass as terrible truths. The Brief of
Suppression is spoken of as an act that was perfectly in order and
necessary. And though he annuls that part which suppresses
the order, he in fact gives fresh force to all the other parts,
which hold up to the world the infamy of the institution. But
Pius VII., monkish in all his ideas, was inclined to try all means,
worthy or questionable, to hurl back the tide of liberal ideas; and
though he was convinced of the fact that he was about to employ
spiritual pirates, yet he said that he should consider himself as
wanting in his duty if, while the bark of Peter was tossed to and
fro amidst dangerous rocks, he should disdain the help of those
"vigorous and experienced rowers"
The question still remains, why Jesuits should be so eager to
establish the infallibility of the power which they have felt in time
past to press so disastrously on their Order. The answer seems
Dominion. to be, that the only thing they crave after is dominion for them-
selves; and they see their way to it more easily through an
absolute spiritual sovereignty than through a limited one ; they
can manage one man more easily than a multitude of indepen-
dent and troublesome prelates. Nero wished that all the iuhabi-
" The Pope and the Council " ; by " Janus." Rivingtons, 1870.
The Pope's salutary fear of the Jesuits. xlix
tants of Rome had but one head and one neck that he might end
them all at one blow. The Jesuits have a similar aspiration with The Jesuits
regard to the Church, over which they want to lord it without
control ; and they are blest with more than Nero's fortune, being
endowed with more than his cunning. They think they can
manage to get their own way by acting on the Pope's weakness
and fears. They have a remarkably efficacious and disagreeable
method of getting rid of those who stand in their way ; and they
know that the Popes are aware of their peculiar skill in this
respect. They flatter themselves that the lesson which they gave
to the infallible Pontiffs in times gone by — proving that they
were liable to die, though they were not liable to err, — will not
be lost on those with whom they may have to deal in time to
come. The future attribute of the Popes is to be INFALLIBILITY,
but it must be infallibility with a leaning to the interests of
Jesuitism, for fear of consequences. "What Voltaire said of the Voltaire.
government of Russia — that it was " absolutism tempered by
regicide " — will hold good in future of the supreme rule in the
Romish Church. The Pope is to be possessed of INFALLIBILITY,
TEMPERED BY FEAR OF SUDDEN DEATH. Sudden death.
Nor is it to be wondered at if the Pope should take a lesson
from the past, and notice how every one who has been obnoxious
to these men has been stricken down. Roman Catholic writers
have remarked over and over again on the remorse! essuess of the
Jesuit faction in their treatment of their opposers. Even the
probability of opposition on the part of anyone has been enough
to cause his removal out of the way. A remarkable instance of
this is given in the death of Pope Clement VIII. when about to Death of Pope
give his decision in the quarrel between the Jesuits and Domini- Clement VIII.
cans. It was strongly suspected that the decision would be
against the former, but the Pope was never permitted to give it.
The Cardinal a Monte has informed us in his life of Bellannine,*
that the Jesuit Cardinal said, while Clement was in robust health,
that he would die before giving his decision. The exact words of
* See Vita Bellar minis, auctore Francisco Maria Cardinal! a Monte,
Antwerp, 1031, p. 507.
1 Beilarmine's suspicious prediction.
the author, in Latin, are in a note below.* " Cardinal Bellarmme
said, ' The Pontiff never will give that definition.' ' The
Pontiff can and will give it,' answered his companion. Bellarmine
rejoined, ' I don't deny that the Pope has the power and the will
to do so ; yet I say, that he will never give this definition ; for
indeed, if he will hasten this on, his life will first fail him.' " The
author who heard this reply and was astonished at it, adds
" Ita est pro veritate." Certain it is that Beilarmine's predic-
tion was fulfilled.
cfementxm Clement XIII., from whom as the Brief of Suppression states,
a letter of commendation " was extorted " by the Company of
Jesus, when he was afterwards about to make an inquiry into the
terrible accusations brought against the Order, passed away
suddenly before any decision could be arrived at.
The remembrance of the fate of those of their own pre-
decessors who have felt the force of Jesuit hate and cunning,
will leave a deep impression on the minds of Roman Pontiffs,
Especially will the Popes, in time of doubt and fear of their
masters and tormentors, call to mind the unfortunate Ganganelli.
Indeed that Pope was himself so well aware of the men
with whom he was dealing, that when he signed the celebrated
Brief — Dominus ac Redcmptor — which was to put an end to
the Jesuit Society for ever, he told those around him that
he knew he was signing his own death-warrant — "Sotto-
scriviamo la nostra morte," Caraccioli says the words of the
Pope were "This suppression will cause my death."f But,
Death War. ^0^ this was his conviction, Clement XIV., with all the
rant of * . . .
Clem. XIV. gravity of his position before him,, signed the Brief on July 23,
1773. All writers at that time represent him as possessing
robust health. The Jesuit Georgel even says, " Ganganelli's
strong constitution seemed to promise him a long career." Bernis
wrote on the 3rd November of the same year, " His health is
* " Cardinalis Bellarmiiius inquit ; Pontifex nunquam hoc definiet.
Posse et velle, excepit alter. Bellarminus rursus ; Pontificem posse et
velle, non inficior ; aio tamen nunquam futurum, ut hoc definiet : iino id
moliri si voluerit, vita prius eum deficiet."
t " Questa suppressione mi dara la morte."
The Justice of Clement's Bull vindicated, li
perfect and his gaiety more remarkable than usual." In the Pope Gangan.
month of April of the following year he was observed to grow liP°isoiied
rapidly ill and visibly to decline, without any apparent cause. His
physicians could not make out his complaint, and no medicine
could reach the seat of it, or control it. He lingered in great
torture for months, and died September 22, 1774. Every
symptom of poisoning was present when his body was opened.
The following dreadful description of his state is from the pen
of Caraccioli. " Several days before his death his bones were
exfoliated and withered, like a tree which, attacked at its root,
withers away and throws off its bark. The scientific men who
were called in to embalm his body, found the features livid, the
lips black, the abdomen inflated, the limbs emaciated, and covered
with violet spots. The size of the heart was diminished ; and Post-morter.i.
all the muscles were shrunk up, and the spine was decomposed.
They filled the body with perfumed and aromatic substances :
but nothing would dispel the rnephitic effluvia. The entrails
burst the vessels in which they were deposited ; and when his
pontifical robes were taken from his body, a great portion of the
skin adhered to them. All the hair of his head remained on the
velvet pillows upon which it rested, and on the slightest friction
his nails fell off." In fact the dead body retained no trace of
the living form, and every one was confirmed in the belief that he
had met foul play. The state of the poor disfigured, shattered
frame that Ganganelli left behind him, was convincing proof of
the unutterable tortures to which he had been subjected by the
Holy Society of Jesus : and induced the belief that those tortures
had been caused by the administration of the acqiia tofana of The Nun's
Perugia. We are told that some persons there, and the nuns in ^qua T°fana
particular, were notorious for the manufacture of this water,
which when drunk produced certain decay and death, though life
was more or less prolonged according to the strength of the poison
and the doses in which it was given. If every other of the
thousand proofs of Jesuit iniquity were wanting, this fearful
vengeance wreaked on Ganganelli and his dreadful end afford
ample vindication of the justice of the great act of his
life.
Grinfield, in his history of the Jesuits,* has the follow- G
l's "History of the Jesuits.' ]>. -U\ri.
Hi To ic/iom the poisoning of Clement XIV. is due.
ing apt observations relating to this event. Speaking of the
poisoning of Clement XIV. by those whom he had put down, and
of the Pope's belief in this during his long agony, he says : — " Of
this (their being his murderers) he felt the fullest conviction.
Nor is it to be wondered at that he should have felt such gloomy
forebodings. The approach of his death had been predicted by
some peasants belonging to the ex- Jesuits. Insulting images and
hideous pictures announced the impending catastrophe. Bicci,
Evidence. the ex-General, encouraged these daring insults. His own rela-
tive has minutely recorded them.f There cannot be stronger
circumstantial evidence that Ganganelli fell a victim to the rage
and detestation of the Order he had suppressed. The farce of
subjection to Papal authority, which had been violated by so
many acts of insubordination to Papal bishops, could not be more
strikingly signalized and consummated, than by the tragedy of
poisoning the Head of the Romish Church, and by their indecent
triumph and inhuman satires after his decease."
Triumph. We have already referred to the motives which induced
Infallibility pius yjj to rest0re the Jesuit Order. He thought the Papacy
ortnesociety •>
dissolved and greatly in need 01 those rigorous and experienced rowers, as he
described them in the brief of restoration ; but doubtless the
leading motive which urged him was his knowledge of the sinister
power of the Order, of which, with reckless ambition, he deter-
mined to possess himself. This was believed to have been his
primary motive, but it may have been quickened by apprehen-
sions for his own personal safety. The long possession of the
Papal chair by the present Pope, and his exemption from many
of the misfortunes peculiar to those of his predecessors who had
ventured to interfere with the operations or the safety of the
Jesuits, thus seem to justify, in a Papal sense, the policy upon
which Pius VII. acted in the restoration of the Order. But the
tyranny over the Roman Catholic section of the Church, which
the Jesuits have induced the Pope solemnly to inaugurate, is
such, as to have cost him already the local temporalities of
the Holy See in and about Rome, with the almost certain
secession of the most intelligent portion of the Roman Catholic
t Roscoe's Memoirs of Scipio tleRicci, vol. i.. chap. 1. London. IH^H.
Brief of Pius IX. in favour of the Jesuits. liii
Church from communion with the Holy See, and a consequent
diminution of the temporal power of the Papacy throughout the
world. However, let the motives, and even the results, be what
they may, the two opposing decisions'of Clement XIY. and Pius
IX. still remain the same stubborn facts; and effectually to
reconcile them, so as to save the appearance of Papal Infallibi-
lity, will puzzle even Jesuit ingenuity.
The part of the Brief of Pius IX., that restores the Order
which Clement had suppressed for ever, runs as follows : —
" To Our Venerable Brother Constantine Patrizi, Cardinal of the grief for the
Holy Roman Church, Bishop of Ostia and Vdletri, Deacon Jesuits.Mar.
of the Sacred College of Cardinals, and Our Vicar-General in
spiritual matters of Rome and of the district.
"Venerable Brother, — Health and Apostolic Benediction. The
Church of God, like a queen clothed in varied apparel, since she
has been adorned as with noble ornaments with different Regular
Orders, has always sedulously availed herself of them to propa-
gate the glory of the Divine Name, to expedite the business of
the Christian Kingdom, and to introduce and spread among
nations, by means of sound doctrine and charity, the polish of
civilised life. The enemies of the Church, therefore, have per-
secuted these religious Orders most of all, and from among them
have singled out the Society of Jesus as the object of their
special hatred, inasmuch as it is the most difficult to deal with,
and, therefore, the most dangerous enemy of their designs. To
Our grief we see that this is again taking place, while the in-
vaders of Our temporal dominions, eager for their prey (which
is always death-fraught to those who seize upon it) seem to long Death.fraushfc
to begin the suppression of all Religious Societies, along with
that of the Company of Jesus. To pave the way for this crime
they strive to raise against it the ill-will of the people, and accuse
its members of opposing the present Government, whilst, what is
most to be noticed, they pretend that the power and the favour
which they enjoy with Us, renders Us more hostile to the said
Government, and exercises such an influence over Us that We
do nothing without their advice. Now this foolish calumny,
liv Brief of Pius IX. favouring the Jesuits — concluded.
implying as it does the greatest contempt of Us, as being weak
and unfit to do anything of Ourselves, is plainly proved to be
absurd, since all know that the Roman Pontiff, when he has
implored divine light and aid, acts and orders as he judges right
and useful for the Church, but that in graver matters he has
been accustomed to employ the services of those, whatever be
their rank or condition, or whatever the Regular Order to which
they belong, whom he deems the most versed in the matter in
hand, and the most able to enunciate a wise and prudent opinion.
Of a truth We do often make use of the Fathers of the Society
of Jesus, and trust many things to their supervision, and more
especially matters concerning the Sacred Ministry. They on
their part, in performing these duties, show Us more and more
that affection and zeal, for which they have earned frequent and
high praises from Our predecessors. But this Our most just love
and esteem for the Society, which has always deserved well of
the Church of Christ, of this Holy See, and of Christendom, is a
very different thing from that slavish obsequiousness which Our
Calumny re- detractors lay to Our charge, and We indignantly repudiate this
pudiatec caiumny as regards Ourselves and the humble devotion of the
Fathers. We have thought that these things ought to be made
known to you, Venerable Brother, that the snares laid for the
Society might be made manifest, and that our sentiments, which
have been so shamefully and foolishly distorted and misrepresented,
might be put in a clear light, and thus prove a fresh testimony of
Our good will towards that noble Society.
******
" Given in Rome at St. Peter's on the 2nd day of March, in
the year 1871, the 25th year of Our Pontificate."
The Jesuits, since their re-establishment, have showed them-
selves worthy successors of those whose evil deeds brought on
them the well-merited condemnation of the infallible head of the
Reciprocal aid Roman communion. Like the ancient Praetorian guards, to
whose office they have in fact succeeded, they are willing to raise
their nominal Ruler to the highest dignity, in order to raise them-
selves. They mean to rule the world by tyrannizing over the
tyrant.
Excitement in the Jesuit Camp. Iv
In confirmation of this, the testimony of "Quirinus"* is of " Quirinus."
remarkable importance.
" We may readily conceive the excitement in the Jesuit camp.
After the patient, indefatigable toil of years of seed-time, the
harvest-time seems to them to come at last. Up to 1773, their
Order, from its numbers, the cultivation of its members, the
influence of its schools and educational establishments, and its
compact organisation, was unquestionably the most powerful Jesuits above
religious corporation, but at the same time was limited and held Orders
in check by the influence and powerful position of the other
Orders. Augustinians, Carmelites, Minorites, and, above all,
Dominicans, were likewise strong, and, moreover, leagued to-
gether for harmonius action through their common hatred of the
Jesuits, or through the natural desire to escape being mastered
by them. Dominicans and Augustinians possessed by long pre-
scription the most influential offices in Rome, so much so indeed
that the two congregations of the Index and the Holy Oifice
were entirely in the hands of the Order of Preachers, to the
exclusion of the Jesuits. Since the restoration of the Jesuits
this is completely changed, and entirely in their interest. All
the ancient Orders are now in decline, above all, in theological
importance and influence ; they do but vegetate now. More-
over, the Dominicans have been saddled with a General
thoroughly devoted to the Jesuits, Jandel, a Frenchman, who
is exerting himself to root out in his Order the Thomist doctrines,
so unpalatable to the Jesuits. The youngest of the great Orders,
the Redemptionists or Signorians, act — sometimes willingly, some- Redempti
times unwillingly — as the serving brothers, road-makers, and
labourers for the Jesuits. And hence, now that they enjoy the
special favour of the Pope, they have come to acquire a power in
Rome which may be called quite unexampled. They have, in
fact, become already the legislators and trusted counsellors of the
Pope, who sees with their eyes and hears with their ears. To
those familiar with the state of things at Rome, it is enough to
name Piccirillo. For years past they have implanted and fos-
* "Letters from Rome on the Council." By Quirinus. Rivingtons,
London. 1*71; pp. 76—79.
turn-
Guidi.
Ivi "Letter* from Rome on the Council." By Quirinus.
tered in the mind of Pius IX. the views he now wants to have
consecrated into dogmas; and have managed to set aside, and at
last reduce to impotence, the influence of wise men, who take a
sober view of the condition of the times. When the Dominican
Cardinal Guidi, who was then the most distinguished theologian
in Rome, freely expressed to the Pope his views about the pro-
jected Council and the measures to be brought before it, from
that hour he was not only allowed no audience of Pius IX., but
was excluded from all share in the preparatory labours of the
Council, so that he remained in entire ignorance of the matters
to be laid before it. But the Jesuits are also the oracles of many
Cardinals, whose votes and opinions are very often ready-made
The Gesu. for them in the Gesu. The congregation of the Index, which
they used formerly so often to attack, blame, and accuse of
partiality, when their own works were censured by it, is now
becoming more and more their own domain, though the chief
places are still in the hands of the Dominicans ; and this may
gradually take place with most of the congregations in whose
hands is centralised the guidance and administration of church
affairs in all countries.
"And thus, if Papal Infallibility becomes a dogma, what
inevitably awaits us is, that this Infallibility will not merely be
worked in certain cases by the counsel and direction of the
Jesuits ; much more than that. The Jesuits will for the future
be the regular stewards of this treasure, and architects of the
new dogmas we have to expect. They will stamp the dogmatic
coinage and put it into circulation. It is enough to know the
earlier history of the Society to know what this means, and what
an immense capital of power and influence it will place at their
Jesuits over command. ' Rulers and subjects ' — that will henceforth be the
otherOrders. relation between the Jesuits and the theologians of other Orders.
Worst of all will be the position of theologians and teachers who
belong to no Order. At the mercy of the most contradictory
judgments, as is already, e.g., the case in France, constantly
exposed to the displeasure of the Jesuits, of the Curia, and of
their Bishop or his adviser, and daily threatened in their very
existence, how are they to get spirit, perseverance, or zeal for
earnest studies, deep researches, and literary activity ? Everv
* »• * ,7
"Letters from Rome on the Council." By Quirinus. Ivii
Jesuit, looking down from the impregnable height of his privi-
leged position, will be able to cry out to the theologians of the
secular clergy, ' Tu longe sequere et vestigia prorsus adora ; '
for now is that fulfilled which the Belgian Jesuits demanded 230
years ago in their Imago Societatis Jesu. Their Order" is now
really, and in the fullest sense, the Urim and Thummim and The Urim and
breastplate of the High Priest — the Pope — who can only then
issue an oracular utterance when he has consulted his breastplate,
the Jesuit Order."*
Accurately measuring the weakness of human nature, they feel
that their nominal Lord and Master will not readily forget their
consummate skill, especially in the art of concocting poisons, and
also of organizing conspiracies against the safety of states or of
individuals. They are quite aware that his Holiness doubts
neither their power nor their ability in applying these peculiar
talents, when necessary. Therefore, with perfect safety to them-
selves, did they force the exaltation of the Pope in every direc-
tion. And is not the influence of the Jesuits continually met Safety-
with ? Are they not ever assiduously insinuating themselves
into high positions, and insidiously securing funds, as the sinews
of power ? Do Jesuits not fill every civil office at the disposal of
the Pope, and almost every Romish Bishopric ? Hence, nothing
can be more evident, than the fact, that thus connected, they will
rise in proportion as the office and attributes ot the Pope are
exalted, but nothing is also more certain, than the sequel, that
with the papacy they must fall, and the head corner-stone, crush-
ing both, will be the infallibility of the Word of God.
But, in addition to the power of carrying out their schemes ;
the Jesuits have attained, through the Dogma, another important
result, viz., immunity from evil consequences. Papal Infallibility immunity,
will be used to cloak every crime however flagrant. The Pope
must bear the blame, but they will reap the advantage; or rather,
the Pope being infallible, villainy will escape censure, provided
that certain profit accrue to the Company. In vain need men
cry out against whatever bears the stamp of Infallibility ; yet the
Great Infallible may be a poor old man at the Vatican.
* " Obligatam hserentemque sanction Pontifici velut in pectore Socie-
tatem." Bolland, Imayo, p. 622.
Iviii Under the cloak of Papal Infallibility.
Alas for the credulity of the dupes of this nefarious scheme !
What profound blindness must obscure the perception of all those
abettors, who are thus willingly affording fresh licence to the
deadliest foes of their own freedom, and of human progress !
Why not cast oif such slavery, and manfully resist claims alike
blasphemous and usurping, which are purposely framed, so as the
more securely to rivet the spiritual fetters, with which they are
bound ?
But an awakening must come before long ; and, in the mean
time, it is satisfactory for us to know, that, by endeavouring to
Eockingof the screen themselves behind the Pope, the Jesuits are preparing
in' a stupendous downfall for the whole Papal system. Were
Roman Catholics to reflect, that Infallibility is now attributed to
an old man, perhaps infirm, and trembling beneath the weight of
years, who although Pope, yet is a mere puppet in the hands of
men avowedly unscrupulous and designing, whom he feels to be
the arbiters of his own life or death, —were this calmly considered,
the sin and folly of submitting to a system so degrading, would
be insupportable ; a system which destroys all spiritual life, and
strives for worldly advantage, by ministering to a credulity, at
once despicable, ridiculous, and debasing.
lix
THE TRAINING OF O'FARRELL, THE ASSASSIN.
Reference has been made to attempts at assassination, Assassination
attributed to the Jesuits, as well as to those historically
known to have been perpetrated by them. None seem too
elevated for the malevolent designs of these conspirators.
Henry IV. of France had attacks made on him by Jesuits again and Henry IV.
again ; and at last perished by the hands of the Jesuit Ravaillac.
Elizabeth of England shared in these attacks, but escaped the
malice of these deadly foes. On the third of September 1758, an
attempt was made at Lisbon to assassinate the King of Portugal,
which he fortunately escaped, though not without being wounded.
Several Jesuits were proved at the trial to have been active
conspirators against the king's life. In later days, the same kind
of attempts appear to have proceeded from the same source. The
attempted assassination of the Emperors of Russia and France The Emperors
in Paris, a few years ago, was perpetrated by one, who appeared
to have received his inspiration from reading the writings of the
Jesuit, Mariana. Similar suspicions attach to the education of
O'Farrell, who attempted the murder of H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh in Australia, on March 12th, 1868.
It appears from the Papers laid before the Australian Parlia-
ment, that O'Farrell had been educated with the intention of his
entering the Roman Catholic Priesthood ; and by the Papal Brief
directed to Cardinal Zurla in October, 1836, the direction of the
education of that Priesthood was committed to the Jesuits.
The information supplied in the Australian Parliamentary
Papers, especially the portion directly furnished by Mr. Parkes,
who was then Colonial Secretary at Sydney, and by Mr. McLerie,
the Inspector General of the Sydney Police, leave no reasonable
doubt, that O'Farrell was connected with the Fenian conspiracy,
which was at that time very mischievously active.
We have not . direct evidence of the connection of the Great
Secret Society with the Fenian conspiracy, but there is presump-
Ix The Secret Society and Fenianism.
tive evidence of co-operation between the two organizations ; and
to the indications of this we shall refer.
Hatred of the No. one can read the Ultramontane organs in Ireland
without discovering how bitterly and skilfully the antipathy
of the Irish is directed against everything English and Pro-
testant. The article in the Dublin Review on " The case of
Ireland before Parliament," indicates the intense sympathy of
the Great Secret Society, whose sentiments it utters, with the
objects which the Fenians had in view, while professedly finding
fault with that organization. The subject is so cleverly dealt
with, that, though no part can be detached from the rest as proof
Feuianism. of approval of Fenianism, yet every sentence adds fresh convic-
tion to the mind of the reader, that the writer heartily wishes well
to what he professes to discourage. Other periodicals, notably
those emanating from Jesuit Colleges, breathed the same spirit of
burning hate to everything, that Englishmen most value.
Joly the- His- Cretineau Joly, the Jesuit historian, informs us, that even
during the time when the Order was suppressed by the Pope,
the members, keeping up their organization in England, settled
at Stonyhurst to " await more favourable times." With respect
to the Jesuit Colleges in Ireland he writes : —
" The Jesuits have only been able to realise in that country
good without renown ; good, without any of those social advan-
tages with which the world believe them to be so much occupied;
nevertheless they have never given up a country where all seems
Dominus ac condemned to despair. The Brief Dominus ac Redemptor having
Redemptor. annihilated the Company of Jesus, the children of Loyola would
not be discouraged like a flock of sheep because their shepherd
had abandoned them. Rome had disbanded her best soldiers,
on the very eve of the day when the Holy See was to be attacked
on all sides at once. The Jesuits, while obeying the Pontifical
Brief, did not believe it to be their duty to desert the post com-
mitted to their charge. They, like the Irish, were poor ; but
this destitution, which had its source in charity, did not disquiet
them. They united themselves in indigence, and laboured
together for the harvest which God had reserved f >r their zeal.
They waited for happier days. Father Richard Callaghan, an
old missionary from the Philippines, whose hand and tongue bore
Deaths of Callayhan and Betah. Ixi
traces of the martyrdom he had endured for the faith, directed
the secularized Jesuits. They could not found an Establishment
in Ireland to receive the young men, whom they hoped soon to
gather into their Order, whenever it should again arise from its
ruins. The College of Stonyhurst opened its bosom to receive stonyhurst.
some of them ; others went to Palermo, where they completed
their studies. In 1807, Richard Callaghan died, burdened with
years and good works. In 1811, the death of Thomas Betah
broke the last link which in Ireland attached the new scholars to
the ancient company. Betah, whose name is still popular in
Dublin and in Ireland, found in his heart that species of eloquence
which excites the natural instincts of this people in so lively a
manner. Father Kenny succeeded him in the month of
November. With a patience which nothing could overcome, the
Jesuits set themselves to work exactly as if the Sovereign Pontiff
had restored them to life.
" They felt the great disadvantages of that sort of cosmopolite
education which, by displacing children from their country in
their youth, gives them less of patriotic feeling. Ireland, accord-
ing to them, had a right to see her children reared upon her
own proscribed soil, in order that, nourished in her misfortunes,
they might on some future day claim her emancipation with more
energy. It was this thought that inspired Father Kenny* with the Prof. Kenny,
project of forming a national college, and he did create one at
Clongowes, not far from Dublin It was necessary to ciongowea
raise the Irish from the state of moral debasement in which it College,
was the policy of England to keep them. To this people the
great voice of Daniel O'Connell, a pupil of the Jesuits, first
taught the meaning of liberty." f
By teaching the young to look back on the rebels of past ages,
as on men worthy of all praise and imitation, an attempt is made,
and only too successfully, to keep alive an undying antagonism
* Father Kenny was one of the earliest professors after the foundation
of Maynooth.
f " Poor Gentlemen of Liege :" being the History of the Jesuits in England
and Ireland for the last sixty years, translated from their own historian,
Cretineau Joly. London, J. F. Shaw & Co., 43, Paternoster Row,
pp. 91—93.
Ixii College Training of Irish Student*.
between the different portions of the United Kingdom. This is
done, that the cause, which the Jesuits have in view may always
find instruments, and an opportunity for achieving their ends.
Little do they care if these instruments, which they provide for
the furtherance of their own plans, sometimes work useless mis-
chief to the commonwealth in which they may happen to live,
hut of which they really form no part. Take for an example of
student the training constantly applied to the excitable Irish student,
Training. ^^ language as that used respecting Irish rebels :*-
"Nothing in the natural order tends so much to exalt the
CariowCollege young of a nation, or more effectually helps to lift them above
Magazine. pursuits either simply ' of the earth earthy/ or else vile and
degrading, and to preserve them on the road to true and honour-
able independence of spirit, as the examples of the heroes of
history, — 'above all, of the good and brave of Fatherland. As
the young heir of a noble house, while he scans with beaming
eye the records of ancestral fame, is stimulated to a rivalry in
worthy deeds, so the young men of a Nation, while perusing the
sacred pages that are blurred by the sorrows, and illumined by
the glory of their countrymen, are wooed by their charms ; and
incited to go and do like those whose names are treasured up in
the story and the songs of their Native Land.
Incitements " Now to what page of Irish history can the writer refer his
to crime. C0untrymen for brighter examples of every virtue that goes to
form the true patriot and the pure Christian hero, than to that
which chronicles the events that have made Wexford a household
word in a million homes, not only in Ireland, but on so many
foreign shores ?
" Entranced by the native grace and dignity of the heroic
characters which stand out on that page, enveloped in glory's
sheeniest light ; and struck by the unfavourable circumstances
which preceded and accompanied their unexpected development,
we do not fear ' to speak of '98 ;' and, without a blush at the
mention of her name, we would ask our readers to turn their
tearful eyes on conquered Wexford with the executioner's hand
tightly grasping her throat."
* Vide " Carlow College Magazine" for December, 1862 ; p. 37f>.
Irish abuse of British Statesmen. Ixiii
Again, at page 379, we read : —
" He must therefore be a bold, if not an unscrupulous, writer, Abuse,
who can dare in periodical, or daily literature, to lecture, or
censure, Irishmen for recalling to mind the perfidy and cruelty
of British statesmen — the Pitts and Castlereaghs of infamous
memory — or for giving thankful expression to the feelings
necessarily evoked by such recollections ; for declaring that the
injustice of the past must be repaired, and the traces of a bygone
savagery be wiped out ; that the last chains, in which the heartless
exterminators of the Celtic race, bound our manhood, must be
broken in pieces, and this holy island be inhabited once again —
free from social, political, and religious outrage — free from the
immoral, absolute dominion of eight thousand feudal lordlings — a
dominion obtained by crime or purchase, under the sanction of
British law, and maintained by more than forty thousand British
bayonets."
Praise is awarded by this organ of education to every writer
who recalls the worthy deeds of former rebels and assassins, per-
formed out of love to their "Faith," and " Country," and "People."
"In so doing," we are informed, " he but portrays the valorous
deeds of Irish martyrs ; and casts, in much gratitude, a lover's
wreath on the tomb, wherein worth and honour lie sleeping, whilst
he tries by such endearments to improve and to elevate the young
Irishmen, who have succeeded as well to the heritage of their
woes as of their fame."
While the youth of the Irish people are thus trained by the Irish moral
active and skilful agents of the Great Secret Society, is it any
wonder that Ireland has been what she is : that her sons
neglect useful labour, or, to use the high-sounding language, we
have just quoted, " are effectually lifted above pursuits either
simply ' of the earth earthy,' or else vile and degrading" ? Thus
are men's minds warped from their youth. The Jesuits have
laboured to destroy in their too apt scholars all moral sense,
and to inculcate blind obedience to the wishes of those, who
may for the time assume the mastery over them.
The real criminals, who are responsible in the sight of God
and man for such crimes as that of O'Farrell, are those secret
underminecs of true morality, who train men for their own
Ixiv The Society's teaching.
purposes, and send them forth ready instruments for any
desperate deed.
The attempt Though direct evidence of Jesuit participation in the attempt
to assassin- f.0 assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh be wanting, yet that they
ate Duke of ° o> J ^ J
Edinburgh, were in some way connected with the dastardly deed is suggested
by the following letter, which was intercepted by the Australian
police, and read in the Legislative Assembly of New South
Wales, April 18th, 1868. The writer is Father Shiel, Spiritual
Director to the appointed assassin :—
"FRANCISCAN CONVENT,
" WEXFORD, IRELAND.
" July 31, 1867.
" MY DEAR HENRY, — It was only yesterday I received
yours, April 26. Go at once to Adelaide and present yourself
to the Vicar- General, to whom I have written ; your best place
will be with the Jesuits, who will treat you with every kindness
and attention suitable to your position. I am delighted to find
that you have yielded to the promptings of Divine Grace. May
Mass & bless- God grant you perseverance. I will offer the Holy Sacrifice for
err f01'u y°u' ^^ y°urse^ under the protection of the B. Virgin, who
will obtain for you a renewal of the spirit of your vocation. I
presume that you are in a position to pay something for your
maintenance ; in any case go at once to Adelaide. May God
bless you, my dear Henry, and believe me yours very sincerely
in Christ, " L. B. SHIEL.
" Show this letter to the Vicar-General of Adelaide.
" H. J. O'FARRELL, Emerald Hill."
The assassin Taking this letter in connexion with the assertion of O'Farrell,
the dupe of faat he was personally an unwilling actor in the wretched tragedy,
which has rendered his memory infamous — we refer to O'FarrelPs
repeated assertion, that he was a member of a conspiracy (we
are aware that a document appeared after O'Farrell's execution,
with his signature, as a sort of dying confession, to a contrary
The Jesuits as instigators to crime. Ixv
effect ; but this document we disbelieve, as did the cbief of the
Sydney Police), — taking, then, this assertion of O'Farrell's in
connection with Father Shell's aspiration for his perseverance,
and the fact that O'Farrell was directed by him to " be with the
Jesuits" in Australia; we cannot avoid the conclusion, that there
was some connection between this notorious Fenian criminal and
the Jesuits.
Ixvii
CONNECTION
OF THE
PRESENT WITH THE PAST.
The French have a saying, " Commengons par le commence-
ment," and such is undoubtedly the natural course for the student
of history, but ordinary readers and politicians have not in these
hurried days time to trace the history of the Jesuits, scattered as
their agency and operations have been throughout the world,
down from the formal institution of the Order 300 years ago.
Our object is merely to furnish our readers with a " Glimpse " of
the Great Secret Society, as at present in operation. In order to
explain the manifestations of this conspiracy and its policy, we are
compelled to reverse the ordinary course of study, and to trace its
history chronologically backwards. The part of this Work which
follows was published in 1868. We have seen no reason to
believe, that the glimpse that it affords of the operations of the
Great Secret Society, up to that period, conveys anything incon-
sistent with an accurate perception of the subject ; and in this
belief we are confirmed by the prudent abstinence from all
comment upon this work, which the Ultramontane journals and
periodicals of this country have observed.
Ixviii
A GLIMPSE OF THE GREAT SECRET SOCIETY
UP TO 1868.
Charles
Sauvestre.
policy.
IN a recent work by M. Charles Sauvestre, an eminent French
the attention of the world has been called to the action of
the Great Secret Society, at the present time. He introduces the
subject in the following forcible language : —
" Imagine an association, whose members have snapped all the
ties of family and country that bound them to their fellow-men ;
and whose united efforts have been directed to the one only and
formidable object — that of developing its own power, and estab-
lishing its domination by every possible means over all the nations
of the world.
Real Jesuit "Imagine further that this immense conspiracy had ended by
substituting its rules and its policy in the place of even the pre-
cepts of religion ; that it had thus succeeded in obtaining the
mastery over the princes of the Church, and in holding them
in real, though not avowed, slavery — in such a way that those
who bear official titles, and incur responsibility, are only docile
instruments of a power which is concealed and silent.
" Such are the Jesuits.
" Banished unceasingly, they unceasingly find their way back :
and little by little, secretly, they establish themselves, strongly root-
ing themselves in darkness. Their property may be confiscated ;
before long their losses are repaired. They attend, at the same
time, to the wheedling of the people out of their inheritances, and
to a widely extended system of commerce. Confessors, merchants,
usurers, traffickers in pious toys, they invent new devotions in
order to create for themselves new sources of revenue. Mean-
while they mix themselves up with politics, disturb kingdoms,
and make princes tremble on their thrones.
Hatred. " For their hate is terrible. Woe to him who becomes their
Vitality.
Religions Associations suppressed in France, in 1792. Ixix
enemy ! By a strange coincidence, which they impiously call the
favour of heaven, specially shown on their hehalf, whoever
has placed obstacles in their way, though he has been at the
very height of greatness, has fallen suddenly as though struck
down. Henry IV., ' the only king whose memory the people Henry IV.
have revered,' meets with three assassins, one after the other, and
dies by the knife of a fanatic, at the very moment when he when to
is going to attack Austria, the government favoured by the stnke-
Jesuits. Clement XIV., a Pope! suppresses the Jesuits and dies
soon after in agony.
" At this moment the Jesuits are again established among us
in spite of edicts and laws. As of old, they have re-opened their
colleges, and endeavour to fashion our youth after their own
mind.
" Their Society grows in riches and in influence by all sorts of
methods ; and nothing is able to stay its progress ; for everywhere
it finds men disposed to serve it in order to obtain by its means
some advantage of place or rank." *
"Religious associations and communities were suppressed in Suppression,
France absolutely by a decree of the Assemblee Nationale, passed
on the 13th February, 1790 ; confirmed by another decree
of 18th August, 1792. The property which had been given to
them was restored at that time to the nation, and was sold. The
monks and nuns returned to ordinary life ; a great number were
married, and embraced civil professions. Indeed, monasteries and
convents disappeared completely from the face of the country.
" Now, according to the last statistical report, these congregations
are more numerous at the present day, than before the Revolution,
and it was only in 1808 that their reconstitution was begun to be
authorised. They have, therefore, in the space of sixty years,
reconquered the lost ground, and more than that.
" These communities form at this moment in France a force of
one hundred and eight thousand persons.
"Public opinion is excited by so rapid a development. There is Kapid deve-
in this a great fact, of which it behoves us to seek the causes and
foresee the consequences. The monasteries and convents, not
* " Introduction aux Instructions Secretes des Jesuites," Par Charles
Sauvestre. E. Dentu, Palais Royal, Paris, 1803.
Ixx Influence of the Jesuits on Education,
only draw into them the youth of the country, they lay hold also
of the inheritance ; and the property which enters these houses
never leaves them any more.
" Moreover, we cannot pass over in silence the usurpation of
education by these religious corporations. It is enough to recall
Leibnitz, the profound assertion of Leibnitz : ' He who is master of the
education is able to change the face of the world.' *
" The least clear-sighted will perceive, that we treat here of a
matter of public interest of the highest importance.
"The 'Ancien Regime/ though it was entirely devoted to reli-
gion, did not think fit to leave the monks without some check.
Taught by experience, the monarchy had established severe laws
to restrain and direct the rising tide of monkery.
Important " Is modern society defenceless ? Has it no laws which can
questions to protec£ ft against this communism of celibates ? Or, shall we say
guardians. r
that every law of that kind is to be rejected as a restraint on
individual liberty ?
" These are questions well worthy of examination. There is no
need for us to remark here, that our only purpose is to address
ourselves to those who are the supreme judges, the public ;
we have no title to make laws or regulations. . . . We address
ourselves particularly to those, who have any guardianship or
authority ; to fathers of families ; to the magistrates, who
administer the laws ; to the lawgivers who make them, and who
represent the living reason of the country." f
^ 1761. The following pages contain the Speech and Report, made in the
year 1761, to the Parliament of Bretagne, by the Attorney-
General, M. de la Chalotais, who had been ordered to investigate
the constitution of the Society of Jesus, and report the result of his
investigations. Some persons may think it unnecessary to re-
produce these documents at the present day, and to publish them
in the English language ; but if any one is of opinion, that the
* The description of the education, received and imparted by the Jesuits,
given from page vi to xii of the supplemental commentary, which, forms
part of the work, entitled " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege," to which wo
elsewhere refer, is well worth attention. — " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege."
John Shaw & Co., London. 1863.
t Preface to " Les Congregations Religieuses." Enquete par Charles
Sauvestre. Achille Faure, 18, Rue Dauphine, Paris. 1867.
Their influence on Justice, fyc. Ixxi
great conspiracy against truth and human freedom, laid bare to
the eyes of mankind in this able work, is a thing of the past, we
cannot undeceive him more effectually than by referring him to
the words, which we have just quoted ; and begging also his calm
consideration of the force and meaning of the following extract,
from a " brochure " of M. Charles Habeneck :—
" This party is everywhere to be found, not indeed with official Habeneck's
power, but with a power that assumes an appearance of kindness." the°mocZ«s
" It does not strike ; it shows its smooth side.
"It does not assassinate; it stifles, it causes those who stand in
its way to disappear mysteriously ; it never pardons its enemies,
but it keeps following them with its implacable hate.
" These congregations have found their way into all departments,
whether public or private ; they are everywhere, at your very
side, and they entwine themselves around you without your
knowing it.
" They do not occupy the places of highest importance, but
they purchase the greatest part of the inferior offices, and in a
bureaucracy like France, it is the holder of the inferior offices who
hinders, or expedites matters, and ties the hands of superiors, who
are often accomplices.
"One can understand, therefore, that this association, using for
one purpose, magistrates and officials, is the origin at least of acts
of partiality and injustice, and may hinder the action of the
tribunals of justice.
" This Society is, besides, a political engine. Since 1859, all
the electoral difficulties have arisen from this organisation, little
felt in Paris, terrible in the Provinces. Only ask the prefects." *
Are the Jesuits, then, friends to freedom ? Let M. Gamier Pages M. Gamier
answer : — " In every Italian town, as in every European nation,
there was, during 1848, a general rising against the Company of
Jesus ; whose interference in the domain of politics has never ceased
to be of the most active kind. In the eyes of the people they exist
whenever despotism exists, and disappear whenever liberty appears. ,
Auxiliaries of absolute kings, they are the adversaries of all pro- y
gress. They maintain ignorance and oppose light. Devoted to
* Charles Habeneck, (Les Jesuites en 1861, brochure.) Chez Dentu a Paris.
Ixxii
Doctrines of t lit; "Community."
the past, they are the enemies of the future ; so much so, that
were it possible, they would even prevent time from advancing.
They know but one law, one faith, and one morality. That law,
faith, and morality, they call authority. To a superior they sub-
mit life and conscience. To their order they sacrifice individuality.
They are neither Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, nor Spaniards.
Jesuits only. They are not citizens of any country. They are Jesuits only.
They have but one family, one fortune, and one end ; and all these
are included in the word Community."*
The friends of the Secret Society, depicted in the following
pages, will no doubt assert that the report made to the Parliament
of Bretagne and to the king of France is inapplicable at the present
time. But this denial will not serve their purpose. M. Charles
Sauvestre, in the work already quoted, ably observes : —
Moral Code. " Every bad case may be denied, as these good fathers say.
But can we in truth put any trust in the words of men, who teach
that lying is permitted, provided it be useful ?
Intention. " A person may swear that he has not done a thing, although
he has done it really, if he means inwardly, that he did not do it
on a certain day ; or before he was born ; or if he partly means
some other like circumstance, without the words, which he uses,
having any sense, that might be able to make it known. And
this is very convenient under many circumstances, and is always
very right, when it is necessary or useful for health, or honour, or
well-being, "f
Unchangeable. We know, that the Jesuits are unchangeable in their doc-
trines as in their system of existence. " Sint ut sunt aut
non sint," was the reply of their General in answer to a proposal
sent by the Great Council of France, in the year 1761, that the
" Society of Jesus " might be modified in that kingdom. This
proposal was made in a friendly spirit, at the recommendation of
twelve French prelates, who had been commissioned to consider
the Jesuit doctrines, after the Parliament of Paris had decreed
the dissolution of the Order, in consequence of the disclosures
during the trial of Lavalette's bankruptcy, which we shall
presently notice.
* Quoted by the Morniny Star, April 19, 1861.
f "Moral Works" of R. P. Sanchez, p. 2, b. iii., c. 6, No. 13.
Influence over the Parochial Clergy. Ixxiii
The king thought the Parliament too severe. A proposal 1761.
was, therefore, made to the Pope and the General, that the Society
should be modified, in order that it might not be dissolved. The
haughty reply was, " They must remain as they are, or cease to Immutability,
exist." This persevering adherence to their original Constitutions,
since they were remodelled by Laynez, who succeeded Loyola, as Laynez.
General of the Order, is the great peculiarity of the Jesuits. In
this sense a Congregation of the Order, held on the 18th of October,
1820, at Rome, by its sixth decree confirmed in all essentials the
ancient Constitutions, rules, and formularies of the Society. We
derive this information from a most valuable commentary upon
the sixth volume of Cretineau Joly's " History of the Jesuits,"
entitled " The Poor Gentlemen of Liege."*
To give any weight to the assertion, that Jesuitism is not what
it was, or what it is here represented to be, it should be shown by
their acts, that the Jesuits are changed. So far from there being
any such change, however, Sauvestre points out their influence in
France at the present time, in these words: "It is remarkable, that
in proportion as their influence is extended over the parochial
clergy, the manners of these clergymen have been seen to exhibit
Jesuitism. The proofs of this are too numerous and too public for
us to have any need to insist upon the fact ; we refer our readers
to the law reports of recent date."
" It is sufficient to read their ' Secret Instructions/ in order to gecret In
recognise the Jesuit spirit which has dictated them. Run through structions.
the chapters : ' How to deal with widows and dispose of the pro-
perty they possess.' 'How to provide that the children shall enter
the convent or the cloister.' 'What ought to be recommended to
the preachers and confessors of the great.' ' Of the method of
making a pretence of despising riches.' Glance through them all —
for they are all of importance — and then say, whether these rules
are a dead letter ; whether they have ceased to look after old
women; to lay their hands on inheritances; to rob children of their
rights and freedom ; to intrigue with the great ; to cast their intrigue,
weight into the political scale ; to labour, in short, for one only
object, which is not the triumph of religion, but the triumph of
* "The Poor Gentlemen of Liege," page 60. John Shaw and Co.,
48, Paternoster Row, London, 1863.
Ixxiv
Operations at home and abroad.
Political
movements.
Poland.
La Suisse.
the Company of Jesus, and the establishment of its mastery over
the world. ": The intrigues of the Jesuits and their attacks upon
the form of government, which has existed in Great Britain since
the Revolution of 1688, have been continuous. Ireland has
always, according to their own historian, M. Cretineau Joly, been,
the chief base of their operations against England.
The whole history of their operations, for the destruction of
the constitutional form of government in Poland, before that
unhappy country was partitioned, manifests the same irrecon-
cilable hatred of national independence and freedom. Their attack
upon the Republic of Switzerland, in 1847-8, is related in the
diplomatic documents laid before the British parliament, and was
attested by the declarations of Lord Palmerston in the House of
Commons, and by the despatches of Lord Clarendon.
M. Cayla, in his able sketch of the most important of the
lay affiliations of the order, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul,f
shews, that the Jesuits availed themselves of the French revolution
in 1848, in order to break up the constitutional monarchy, of
Louis Philippe ; and that after manipulating the Republic, they
were engaged in preparations for the coup d'etat of 1852; whereby
they promoted the establishment of a despotic form of government,
—the form of government, which, if it be Roman Catholic, they
always favour, as most amenable to their intrigues. How they
assail an autocratic government, if not submissive to their dicta-
tion, is illustrated in the case of Russia, by Prince Gortchakoff's
remarkable Circular Despatch.^
In every country, and under every form of government, the
efforts of the Jesuits, however varied in their phase, have been,
and are, the same in their tendency. Wherever the influence or
Eevoiution. power of their order is not supreme, the Jesuits are revolutionists.
They work against the State through the disorganisation of
France.
Kussia.
* " Instructions Secretes des Jesuites." Par Charles Sauvestre. Paris, 1863.
f "Les Bons Messieurs de St. Vincent de Paul." J. M. Cayla. Dentu,
Paris, 18G3.
I This remarkable document was laid before the House of Commons, and
printed in the Session of 1867.
Revival of Jesuitism. Ixxv
society. The effect of their supremacy, wherever established, has Eesuits of
always been the same ; the establishment of a retrograde and suPrema(T-
debasing tyranny ; and then, as the result, frequent attempts at
revolution on the part of the oppressed peoples. This is abund-
antly attested by the former condition of Italy; by the remarkable
series of events that have taken place in Spain and France ; to
say nothing of the convulsions and crimes against Grod and man,
of which they were the instigators, in South America. S. America.
No person, who has taken the trouble to inform himself on this
subject can, with truth, assert, that in affording our readers this
" Glimpse of the operations of the great Secret Society" we are
inviting them to accompany us, while we rummage among
the dusty records of a danger that is past.
It may naturally be asked " How has this revival of Jesuitism The Keviva] :
occurred? The public know little or nothing about it." The how effected,
answer to this question is very simple. In 1814, just before his 1814.
restoration to the sovereignty of the Pontifical States and of
Rome, in effecting which Protestant England bore so large a part,
the Pope re-established the Order of Jesuits ; an act, from which
the Papacy had abstained, since the suppression of the order by
Pope Clement XIV., in 1773. In October, 1836, the late Pope,
as M. Cretineau Joly the Jesuit historian tells us, held a Function
at the Gresu in Rome, and by a Papal brief, bearing that date,
placed the whole of the missions of all the regular Orders of
the Church of Rome under the direction of the Jesuits. This
memorable act was little known, and attracted little attention at
the time, but its consequences have been of the widest and deepest
importance. The Pope, as the head of the Church of Rome, then
virtually resigned himself and his Church to the domination of
fTM
this Praetorian order. The Propaganda, the central office of the Propaganda,
regular missions of the Church of Rome, became merely a depart-
ment of the Order of Jesuits ; and it is remarkable, that by the
Brief of 1850, justly described as the act of Papal aggression i850.
upon England, the whole authority of the Papacy, as regards
the Church of Rome and her adherents in this country,
was permanently delegated to the Propaganda. The present
Pope was on his accession inclined to be liberal, but the events,
which led to his early flight from Rome to Gaeta, terrified
Ixxvi Plotting for possession of property.
him into subjection to the Jesuits ; he appears to have returned
from Gaeta quite changed. His subsequent arrogant and aggres-
sive conduct plainly shows that he had then become identified
Ultramon- with what is commonly called the " Ultramontane, " but that
which really is the Jesuit faction or sect, in the Church of Rome.
They have thus for more than twenty years been dominant over
the Papacy and the Church of Rome, and have reproduced in
France, and other countries, a state of things in politics, morals,
and religion, analogous to that described by M. de la Chalotais,
as having been the result of their influence during the last
century.
The speech or report of M. de la Chalotais, to the Parlia-
ment of Bretagne, in 1761, was the consequence of u great
stir in the minds of the French people, caused by the out-
rageous conduct of the Jesuits. Anger was justly excited against
this anti-social association by such acts as the following, the account
of which is extracted from "Histoire Abregee des Jesuites,"*
Father Chau- Tome II., page 26 : "A certain Ambrose Guys, originally from
Ambros ^P^' disembarked at Brest in 1701, with a considerable fortune,
Gays. which he brought from Brazil. His packages contained one mil-
1701
lion nine hundred thousand livres in gold, a considerable sum in
silver, a great quantity of precious stones, and other objects of
value. Being ill, he was taken, with all his effects, to the house
of one named Guimar, an inkeeper on the quay 'De la
Recouvrance.' Feeling uneasy in his mind, he sent for a Jesuit
confessor, and committed to his care some letters, with which he
had been entrusted by the Jesuits of the country, from which he
had come. Judging by these letters of the importance of the
chance that this man afforded them, these gentlemen (the
Jesuits) committed the execution of their plan to Father Chauvel,
the proctor of their establishment. He engaged Guys to leave
that inn, where he was badly entertained, and to come into the
house of the Society, where he would be taken the greatest care of.
The sick man. The sick man consented to this ; but he expressed his desire first to
make his will. The Father Chauvel approved of this proposal, and
* Quoted by M. Charles Sauvestre in the Introduction to his work on
the " Constitution of the Jesuits."
Judgment delivered by the King. Ixxvii
the same evening the unhappy Guys signed his will before a notary,
assisted by four witnesses. Now this pretended notary was in fact
simply the gardener of the Jesuits ; and the four witnesses were
certain Fathers of the Society of Jesus, disguised as citizens. The
sick man was carried to the house of the good Fathers, where he The g°ocl
died three days after.
" Frances Jourdan, niece of the deceased, and wife of a man
named Esprit Beranger, of Marseilles, having learnt by public
report, what had happened to her uncle, presented on the llth
April 1715, a petition to the Judges of Brest to be allowed full 1715.
information on the subject. The Jesuits, foreseeing the rising Pej^°gneg°tlie
storm, caused Beranger to be threatened with assassination, if he Assassination
did not give up the proceedings he was instituting. Tbat poor
fellow,'frightened and ruined by two years of litigation in Bretagne,
found himself obliged to listen to these threats. The Chancellor,
M. d'Aguesseau, informed of this affair, instructed the Attorney-
General of the Parliament of Bretagne to continue the prosecution.
The lawsuit, at every turn hindered by means of the money of
the Jesuits, dragged on till the year 1736 (21 years). At that
period, Father Chauvel, the actual principal in the robbery, having
become old and infirm, felt smitten with remorse. He wrote from Chauvel's
La Fleche, where he was gone to end his days, all that had passed confession.
at Brest, and sent this declaration to Marshal d'Estrees. The
King having thus acquired certain knowledge of the robbery,
delivered a judgment proprio motu, which condemned the Jesuits
to restore to the heirs of Guys eight millions. The Fathers were
sufficiently cunning and sufficiently powerful to hinder the execu-
tion of the judgment. The money was never paid."
Such deeds as these led the King and the Parliaments of France*
to be watchful and anxious observers of a conspiracy, which in its
* There were eleven Parliaments in France, besides the Parliament of
Paris. These provincial Courts assembled at the various provincial capitals
of Languedoc, Guienne, Burgundy, Normandy, Provence, Bretagne, and of
five other provinces. Their power was very extensive, and generally used
on the side of liberty and justice. They were not so much legislatures as
courts of justice. The Parliament of Paris seems to have had more exten-
sive authority than the others. We find from the wording of its decrees
that it was composed of princes, nobles, and eminent judges and others.
The Decree of 1st December, 17(34 (respecting the Jesuits), begins: " This
9
Ixxviii
The Jesuits and Trading.
burial refused.
Paris
banished.
recklessness and confidence had scorned all the dictates of true
religion and morality.
About the year 1753, all France was in a tumult, because the
;Unigenitus" Ultramontane clergy, under the influence of the Jesuits, refused
to bury those persons whose friends could not produce certificates
from their confessor, that they had died acknowledging their belief
in the dogmas proclaimed by the Bull " Unigenitus." The matter
had been brought before the Parliament ; and the members of
Parliament, who complained of this tyranny and bigotry, were
accused, and imprisoned, or banished. The struggle continued
Archbishop of with varied success, till the Parliament sent the Archbishop
of Paris into banishment at his brother's estate in Perigord.
There was, then, a lull in the storm.
All these wrongs remained unredressed till the frauds of the
Jesuits stirred up the mercantile community. Men often bear
with a deal of tyranny and robbery ; but their endurance will not
stretch beyond a certain point. This point was reached in France,
when her commerce received a heavy blow through the frauds
committed by the Society in connexion with the bankruptcy of
Lavalette, a member of the Company of Jesus.
Father Lavalette, Procureur of the Jesuit establishment at
St. Pierre, in Martinique, traded very extensively and in a very
speculative manner; and it is remarkable, that both M. Sauvestre
and M. Cayla shew in the works, from which we have quoted,
that the Jesuits in Paris are still largely, though secretly, connected
with trading operations. By his daring and ingenious speculations,
Lavalette had increased his trade to such a decree as to excite the
jealousy of the merchants and inhabitants of the colony ; who
saw an ecclesiastic accumulating merchandise and produce, and
pouring into his treasury gold and coin of all kinds ; intercepting
day, the Court in full assembly, the princes and peers sitting here, and all
the Chambers," etc. These words point out in some measure the con-
stitution of the Parliament. There were also in France " assemblies " called
" States-General," which comprised clergy, nobles, and the " tiers etat," or
bourgeois. The "nobles" comprised ail who were of noble extraction,
" whether of robe or sword," that is, whether lawyers or knights ; provided
they were not magistrates elected by the people. The "tiers etat" were
deputies of the people. Those who held high legal offices assisted at the
meeting of the States as commissioners of the king, and were distinguished
above the ordinary nobility.
Lavalette
1756.
con-
The Jesuits and Trading. Ixxix
the circulation of money, in order to make himself the exclusive
dispenser of it in the island. Complaints of his proceedings were
sent to the French Government, and it was thought necessary to
recall him to Paris.
Lavalette was not long in France, before the Jesuit Society, who
thought him worthy of reward instead of censure, sent him back
with the title of General Superior of the Windward Islands. Title
The credit and influence of the Society calmed the alarm of ferred-
the Government ; the royal authorities consented to his return,
and, moreover, invested him with the rank of Visitor-General
and Apostolic Prefect of the missions in that part of the world.
He renewed his speculations. Establishments were formed
in all the neighbouring islands. He organised offices in St.
Domingo, Granada, St. Lucia, St. Yincent, etc., and drew bills of
exchange on Paris, London, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyons, Cadiz,
Leghorn, and Amsterdam. His vessels, loaded with riches,
crossed the sea continually. The Jesuits traded on their credit, Jesuit trading,
pretending that the property of their whole body was answerable
as security. They disregarded treaties which other merchants
obeyed. Neutrality laws were nothing to them. They hired ships
which transported merchandise ; which were used as privateers privateers.
when it suited them, and sailed under any flag that was convenient.
The Government of France took no notice of all this, till at last,
the English Admirals, Hawke, Boscawen, Howe, and Anson,
settled the matter by taking these privateers. The credit of these
Jesuit traders was injured, and the French Provincial refused to
pay their creditors on pretence that the Society was not liable as
a whole, though they had acted together.
The Brothers Lioncy and Gouffre, very extensive merchants of
Marseilles, were the agents and correspondents of Father
Lavalette. They had accepted bills to the extent of a million and
a half of livres ; to cover these, two vessels had been despatched
from Martinique with merchandise to the value of two millions.
These vessels were captured at sea by the English.
The house of Lioncy and Gouffre, pressed by want of money,
asked the Superior of the Jesuits at Marseilles, for four hundred
thousand livres, out of their million and a half, in order to avoid
bankruptcy. A Jesuit Superior, named Sacy, who had, till then, Sacy.
Ixxx
Dtath of the General, and results.
Masses and
Money.
Louis XV.
Lioncy and
Gouffre.
1760.
Cause
been the direct and recognised agent of Lavalette, declared that
the Society was not answerable as a whole ; but that they offered
the aid of their prayers to the Brothers Lioncy and Gouffre, and
were about to say masses for them. The masses and prayers
of the Jesuits did not fill the chests of the merchants which
their commercial speculations had served to empty. Messieurs
Lioncy wrere obliged to lay a statement of their case before
the tribunals, and appeal to Parliament for a decree that their
debt might be paid.
The Jesuits wished to stifle the matter. But the Duke de
Choiseul, Prime Minister of that period, persuaded the king, Louis
XV., to allow the appeal, and the Jesuits were condemned to
honour the bills drawn by their agent. The house of Lioncy was
the most distinguished in the great city of Marseilles. Their yearly
returns were thirty millions of livres. They saw themselves sud-
denly reduced from opulence to danger of bankruptcy by Jesuit
dishonesty, and they had the additional sorrow of enveloping in
their misfortune their connexions in all parts of France.
Fortunately for mankind, unfortunately for the Great Secret
Society, their General died at this critical period. Delay was
inevitable, and this was fatal to the Jesuits. The new General
saw the necessity of keeping the matter as quiet as he could, and
gave orders to send all the funds that could be raised to Messieurs
Lioncy and Gouffre. The courier reached them on the 22nd
Feb., 1756, five days too late. The bankruptcy had taken place
on the 17th.
From that day the proceedings of the Jesuits were reckless.
Finding that publicity was inevitable, they withdrew their
help from those whom they had ruined. They had the impru-
dence to allege that they were protected from the claims of
their creditors by their Constitutions. This plea was a most
disastrous one for them. They were condemned by the Parlia-
ment of Paris.
Yet so late as on the 17th August, 1760, they had influence
enough to obtain letters patent, to carry their cause to the Great
Chamber, on appeal from the Parliament of Paris. This was
their last effort at that time. A decree was passed that the cause
should be publicly heard.
Extinction of the Order in France, 1762. Ixxxi
At first they only pleaded that the creditors of Lavalette had Special
no claim, except on the house of business at Martinique. They Pleadm£-
then had recourse to a singular subterfuge. They said that
Jesuits were forbidden to trade, by their Constitutions ; that
having trading transactions was a dereliction of duty on the part
of Lavalette ; and the fault of an individual could not be visited
on the Order. The crime was personal, they said, and the Society
had given no guarantee. They wished the payment of a just
claim to be considered in the light of a punishment ; thus
endeavouring so to confound two distinct matters, as to escape
from their dilemma.
The judges were too acute to be led away from the straight
course. Their creditors urged, that as their government was Pros. & cons,
despotic, their General could dispose of their whole property as
he thought best ; that no individual could do anything but as the
agent of this chief; that it was contrary to reason for the Order to
profit by the good luck of their agent, and escape all participation,
in his misfortune.
The Jesuits replied to this, that their Society had no common
property ; but that each house was a separate corporation. They
referred, in proof of their plea of exemption, to the Constitutions Constitutions
of their Order.
The Parliament naturally demanded the production of these Revelations
documents. They were produced on the 16th April, 1761 ; and 1^61-
this disclosure not only lost the Jesuits their cause, but brought
upon them a greater condemnation than they at all looked
for. Till then their Constitutions had remained secret. The
publication of them shewed the alarming pretensions, the organi-
sation, and the power for evil, of an order bound together
for the sole purpose of their own aggrandisement. The Abbe The Abbe
Chauvelin, Counsel to the Great Chamber, denounced these Chauvelin.
rules before the Parliament, and the Constitutions became one of
the principal foundations of the accusation, which ended in the
decrees for the extinction of the Order in France, in 1762.
The Parliament of Paris appended numerous extracts from these
Constitutions to their decree, in justification of their rigorous
action against the Order. These extracts, verified and collated by
the Commissioners of the Parliament, in compliance with a requi-
Ixxxii The Parliament of Paris, and Jesuitical teaching.
A Judge.
A Mouk.
Servants.
Theft.
Theft.
Adultery.
sition dated the 31st August, 1761, fill not less than four volumes.
These authentic documents exist in the public libraries, and in
Extracts from many private ones. From these extracts we present one or two
examples of the Jesuit teaching, which, so alarmed and disgusted
the Parliaments and people of France.
"In his 'Essay on Public Theology,' published in 1736, Father
Taberna maintains that :*
"If a judge has received money to give an unjust judgment,
it is probable that he ought to keep the money ; for this is the
judgment of fifty-eight Jesuit doctors.''
In answer to the question,
" On what occasions may a monk leave off his monk's dress
without incurring excommunication?"
The reply is,
" He may leave it off if it is for a purpose that would cause
shame, as that he may go on a swindling excursion : or in order
to go incognito into places of debauchery. Si habitum dimittat ut
furetur occutte vel fornicetur."-\-
Another question :
" May servants who complain of their wages, increase them by
laying hands on something that belongs to their masters, so as to
make them amount to what they think they deserve?"
Is thus answered :
"They may in certain circumstances: as when they are so poor
when applying for the place, that they are obliged to accept the
offer made to them, and provided other servants of their sort are
receiving more elsewhere. "J
According to the " Treatise on Penitence " of Father Kaleze
Reginald,
" Domestic servants may take secretly the goods of their
masters by way of compensation, under the plea that their wages
are too small ; and they are not to be compelled to restore them."
Father Henriquez thus expresses himself : §
" If an adulterer, even though he be an ecclesiastic thoroughly
aware of the danger, goes to the house of an adulteress, and if
* Father Taberna's " Essay on Public Theology." 1736.
t " Praxis ex Soc. Jes. Schola," Fr. 7, ex 6, nolo 3.
I " Soinrne de P. Bauny," p. 213, 6th edit,
$ " Moral Theology." P. Henriquez. vol. i., bk. iv., ch. 10, No. 3. p.
The Jesuit system still extending among us. Ixxxiii
being surprised by the husband, he kills him, in defending his life
or limbs, the fault does not seem to be on his side."
According to the Moral Theology of Father Anthony Escobar,*
" It is allowable to kill by treachery one who is proscribed."
" It is equally allowable to put to death those who injure us Assassination
in the estimation of princes, and persons of distinction."! Murder.
The doctrines of the Jesuits on the subject of luxury and loose
living, as contained in these " extracts," are too vile to place
before decent people. Luxury.
It was no wonder, therefore, that the Parliament of Paris drove
the enemy from the country, as far as they had the power. Nor is
it wonderful that the example was followed by the other Parlia- Expulsion,
ments of France. But before passing on to the consideration of this
Report, we wish to direct the reader's attention to the curious fact
that the Oratorians, the Order of St. Philip Neri, who took the
place of the Jesuits when they were expelled, urged the same
plea of a non-community of goods among the members of their
order, as the Jesuits did in the case of Father Lavalette. And
it is remarkable, that this plea of a non-community of goods was
advanced only five years ago, by the Oratorians before the Par-
liament and Courts of Italy, who decided that it was an evasion,
and suppressed the Order. The same plea has been still more Oratorians
recently advanced by the Oratorians of Brompton and of Syden-
ham before the Courts and Parliament of England. This fact,
with many others, proves that the system of the Jesuits has been,
up to the present time, and still is, extending its ramifications
among us.
Nothing can be more instructive, than the account given by
M. de la Chalotais of the operations of the Jesuits upon the
Gallican Church. It shows an exact analogy with the less
developed operations of the Ritualists upon the Church of
England. The Jesuits first led the bishops to disregard the
Canon and the Common Law, and then, by audacity and intrigue,
reduced the bishops into subjection to themselves.
By the providence of God and by the sound Protestantism
of English Sovereigns, Parliaments, and people, we have been
* " Moral Theology." P. A. Escobar. Vol. iv., p. 278.
f I hi ft., p. ^NI.
Ixxxiv
Jesuitism supported by Papal Supremacy.
opposition.
Attempts to
shake off
Jesuitism.
long spared the outward manifestation, in this country, of the
power and evil influence of this conspiracy against all that men
value ; yet the perusal of this Report will, we trust, awaken
our fellow-countrymen to be zealous in the guardianship of their
rights and freedom, against the secret machinations of foes, who are
"effective ' working in our midst. The Jesuits are too able, too earnest, to be
ios^ sight of, or despised. The great means of opposition to their
evil influence is publicity. " They love darkness rather than light."
Many noble efforts have been made by the French people to
shake off the grasp of the Jesuitism, which holds them so tena-
ciously. Even now they bear this incubus uneasily. The question
naturally arises, Why have they never succeeded in getting rid of
what they have felt to be so galling and so disastrous ? Why have
all their efforts been in vain ? Why have their partial successes
against their baleful secret foe always been turned into defeats? The
answer is, that they have never nationally attacked their enemy by
the only means that can be fatal to his power. They have never
shaken off the yoke of the See of Rome ; have never had in their
own language a scriptural liturgy for their churches. They have
aimed only at relieving violent symptoms of the disease, by which
they are infected ; whereas they ought to have attacked the root
of the disease; and had they been successful in this, the symptoms
would have disappeared. Papal supremacy is the strength of
Jesuitism. Because France has always acknowledged the one,
she has been, and is, the prey of the other.
An evidence of the tyranny of the Papal system, and its
Papal system, arrogant repression of the freedom of action of national Churches,
is famished by the Pope's letter to the Archbishop of Paris in
1865. This document is given in full at the end of this work.
The following extracts from it will exemplify the truth of what
we have been stating.
" Thus, for example, by asserting that the power of the Roman
Pontiff over each diocese in particular is not ordinary but
extraordinary, you enunciate a proposition entirely contrary to
the definition of the 4th Council of Lateran, in which we read
these very clear and decisive words, ' The Church of Rome, by
the will of God, has over all others the supremacy of ordinary
Remedies.
Tyranny of
Leterfrom Pius IX. to the Archbishop of Paris. Ixxxv
power, and that as the mother and mistress of all the faithful,' 1865.
that is to say, over all who belong to the flock of Christ." "tochbish
****** of Paris.
" We are afflicted, Venerable Brother, that you should have
fallen into any ambiguities concerning the affairs of the Regulars.
But in the first place we would wish you to consider, with your
usual sagacity, that we are now treating of the Episcopal visit,
made, whether to the Society of Jesus, or to the Franciscans of
the Order of Capuchins, who have resided in the City of Paris
under several bishops, your predecessors, enjoying the peaceable
possession of their exemption ; and, in consequence, the Holy
Apostolic See itself was in the enjoyment of its peculiar and
separate right of jurisdiction over these same Regulars. Thus it
became a question of spoliation, accomplished by an act
destructive of the privileges of the Holy See and the Regulars.
Such is the real state of the question ; whence you will easily
perceive that the Apostolic See would act with justice, even if it
was pleased to convert into a judgment or a sentence, the terms
in which we have thought proper to make it known to you."
There was hope of escape from the secret enemy, while Henry
IY. remained in some measure a Protestant. Before M. de la
Chalotais made his speech or report to the Parliament at Rennes,
this turning point in the history of Frdnce had been reached and
passed. Yet the French nation still had a form of government France,
which was constitutional, according to the times in which it
existed. It contained many of the elements of that freedom,
which the British nation has since established. In this respect,
France still had a great element of success in her struggle against
Jesuitism, The records of this and similar national struggles,
illustrate cardinal principles, which, as they are strongly or weakly
upheld, decide the course and fortunes of nations. The critical
period is often reached and passed, before men are alive to the
importance of the epoch.
The turning point of English history occurred at about the same England,
period as that of the French: but, in England, right principles pre-
vailed, while in France there was hesitation and relapse into error.
Henry IY. of France possessed the many high and noble qualities
which M. de la Chalotais justly ascribes to him. As a Protestant
Ixxxvi
Death of Henry IV- of France.
Death of
Charles I.
Henry iv. he was a great national leader, and contended successfully against
the Ultramontane spirit of despotism, and against the anarchi-
cal aggressions of the Jesuits. Yet, the life of this great
Sovereign was marked by that laxity of morals, which evil
counsellors palliate in Princes ; and in his day and country, such
self-indulgence was considered almost an attribute of royalty.
But this laxity of morals undermines the real greatness, invali-
dates the sterling power of the man, corrupts those about him, and
weakens the respect of the nation for their Sovereign. Henry IV.,
great and beloved as he was, hesitated in renewing the contest,
in which his early success had raised him in the estimation of the
nation which he governed ; he, ostensibly at all events, changed
his religion, and was reconciled to Home. This compliance
did not save him ; he died by the hand of a Jesuit assassin,
so soon as his plans again interfered with the schemes
of the Society. The hesitation of Henry IV., and his death,
have a parallel in the hesitation and death of Charles I. of
England, whose fall and whose death were compassed by the
same conspiracy. This is shown by the late Dean Goode in his
able work entitled " Rome's Tactics."*
In comparing the conduct of Henry IV. of France with
that of his contemporary, Elizabeth, it must be admitted,
that the difficulties of Henry IV. were in some respects
greater than those of the Queen of England ; for the
religion and Church of France, though Gallican, and therefore
national in their organisation, as M. de la Chalotais describes
them, were only Augustinian in their spirit and doctrine (Jan-
senist, as they were called at the time), not Protestant in the
sense of the reformed religion and Church of England. They
always acknowledged the spiritual primacy of the Pope. Neither
the religion of the majority of the French people, nor their
Church, ever possessed the fundamental element of national
independence which an uninterrupted dependence upon God and
His revealed will, as written, can alone establish.
The religion and Church of England had been gradually but
effectually reformed by the nation during the reigns of the father,
Elizabeth.
* " Kome's Tactics." By the Dean of Eipon. Hatchards, London, 1867.
Attempts on the Life of the Queen. Ixxxvii
of the brother, and even of the sister, who preceded Elizabeth on Elizabeth.
the throne of England. This circumstance, in addition to her own
matured and abiding conviction of religious truth, gave Elizabeth
an enormous advantage as compared with Henry IV. of France ;
and fundamentally affected the respective positions of the two
nations. It is, however, difficult to over-estimate the value to
the English nation of the firmness of Elizabeth, aided by her
enlightened Protestant counsellors. In other nations, Poland,
for instance,* the reformation of religion and of the National
Church has been hopefully inaugurated, and patronised by
sovereigns ; but its fruits have been lost or destroyed by the
same agency, to whose attacks, Henry IV. and Elizabeth were
exposed. Elizabeth was the firm friend and ally of Henry IV.
so long as he was a Protestant by profession. Her letter to him,
on his change of religion, breathes a spirit of kindly, though of
hopeless friendship, and of compassionate regret.
The life of Elizabeth was repeatedly attempted by the Jesuits ; Her life
she was beset by the same agency as was Henry IV. up to the attemPted-
last and too successful attack of Ravaillac. The murder of both
these sovereigns was continually and craftily planned. Such was
the treatment, that sovereigns, who in those days not only reigned
but ruled, always received at the hands of the Jesuits, when opposed
to their ambition. Nor is their spirit and purpose changed — as the
attempt upon the lives of the Emperors of France and Russia in
Paris, by a miscreant, who had been studying the works of the
Jesuit Mariana, has recently proved.
The Protestant spirit of the majority of the English nation, of
men of all grades in society, contributed largely to the safety of Safety.
Elizabeth. They not only guarded her life, but they would have
avenged her death effectually, had she been murdered : and this
was known. Such was the result of an unbroken religious confi-
dence between the nation and their sovereign.
The memory of Elizabeth has, of course, many detractors Detractors,
among the Ultramontanes and their allies — as the late Mr.
Turnbull, whom Lord Palmerston turned out of the State Paper
* " Historical Sketch of the Reformation in Poland." By Count Valerian
Krasinski. Murray and Ridgway, London. 1838.
Ixxxviii The Reformation in France and England.
Office ; but her life was incomparably more pure than that of
Henry IV.
England's There can be no doubt, that the rising greatness of England
dates from the turning point of her history in the reign of Elizabeth.
England has suffered in her subsequent contests with the great
conspiracy ; she has needed and has had to submit to the inter-
vention of Cromwell, and was compelled to effect for herself the
Revolution of 1688, owing to the weakness, the hesitation, the vices,
the bigotry, and the tyranny of the half-hearted Stuarts. But the
English nation has not suffered in vain ; by the power of the
Reformation they have hitherto been victorious in their pro-
tracted and still continuing contest. While the French nation,
among whom the Reformation never was complete or successful,
have suffered much more from persecution, through revolutions
and by war, than the English ; and without attaining the pros-
perity, either moral or material, which Providence has allotted
to England.
Perilous posi- The national character, the objects, the tastes of the French
6 people may be, and are, different from those of the English. But,
when we remember the convulsive history of modern France —
when we see her now, notwithstanding a certain degree of com-
mercial activity, made the willing tool of ambitious and design-
ing men, weighed down by heavy taxation, with a dwindling
population, and her Church ruled by an Ultramontane and
therefore anti-national Hierarchy — we turn to the able summary
of the incidents, in her previous history, which, as condensed by
M. de la Chalotais, is given in the following pages ; and then,
not without serious misgivings, we turn to what is occurring
among ourselves in Ireland, and in England.
England's ^e vas* major% uf the British nation are, we believe, as yet,
truth and true at heart ; and so long as they are true, and actively true,
to their religion and to themselves, there is no case for despond-
ency. In times past they have not spared any sacrifice to
preserve their religion and their freedom ; they have not, for
centuries, allowed any, even the highest, to stand between them
and the light of truth, which conies from heaven. Hence they
have hitherto made themselves and kept themselves free ; they
have defied and defeated the secret foes, who have made such
Danger and Means of Safety. Ixxxix
repeated wrecks of the freedom of the French people. Our Caution,
fellow-countrymen must, nevertheless, beware ; for they are
heset by the intrigues of Jesuits, who are now making this
kingdom their headquarters. Yet though there is abundant
reason to be watchful, there is none whatever to despair, so
long as we are on the watch. Danger will come, if we are
careless ; if either from ignorance, or from a mistaken feeling
of charity, or from cowardice, we indulge in a false con-
fidence. "While England continues faithfully to protest against
Romish error, the power that has preserved her hitherto will be
hers still. While her people have an open Bible they have a
shield against all Jesuitism. The way of safety for our nation,
and for the Church of the nation, is to have no desire for any
connexion with that apostate system, that needs and leans upon
the Society, the aim and organisation of which are here unfolded Only safety.
to the reader. We are safe and sure of eventual success, so long
as we hold Christ to be the only head of His Church, and value
His written Word, as the rule of our faith and of our life.
Report
ON THE CONSTITUTIONS
JESUITS,
TlFTJVKUEn BY
M. LOUIS RENE DE CARADUC DE LA CHALOTAIS,
PROCVRErR-GENERAI. OF THE KING TO THE PARLIAMENT OF BRETAONE,
On the 1st, 3/-rf, \th, and Hth of Dfffitibfi; 1761,
IN OBEDIENCE TO THF. OUDFR OF THE COVKT or THE I'TH or AVOUST PUPCETHNO.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH EDITION OF 1762.
TO THE PARLIAMENT OF BBETAGNE.
MESSIEURS,
You have commissioned me to make a report to you on the
constitutions of the Jesuits. I will endeavour to carry out your
designs, as Henry IV. directed all his Parliaments to prosecute a
similar enquiry in 1-394 : — " impartially, without animosity or
favour towards any person whatever," said he, " so that in the
conscientious discharge of my duty, God may be praised and
honoured by my good and holy intentions ; and in the faithful
execution of your functions, He may be honoured by your acts
and just decisions."
In making the intentions of so great a king the rule of my
proceedings, I shall doubtless fulfil the desires of the successor to
his throne and to his virtues, and act in conformity with your
wishes. He who executes a public function is bound by what
the laws direct : arid while he has a regard for the rights of pri-
vate individuals, his chief concern is for the public good.
My impression has been that you did not simply require me to
give the rules of a monastic order — which, if it were confined to
a cloister, would attract little attention from the public — but that
you wanted to know the regulations which are binding on a cele-
brated order, spread throughout the world, and filling many
offices of importance equally to Church and State. I have sup-
posed that you wished to be informed of the relation in which
members of this society stand with regard to both ; of the spirit
in which its rules have been constructed, and the principles on
which they rest ; and to know what effect they may have on
civil and religious society, and on the education of the young.
In order to examine the constitutions of the Jesuits in these
points of view, it is necessary for us to begin by laying down
principles and establishing facts.
First, a religious order, whatever it may be, ought not to in-
troduce anything into a country in contravention of its laws. This
would be contrary to the spirit of Christianity, which enjoins the
principle of peaceable submission to the ruling powers of the State.
But this is not enough ; that which may be bearable only
because it is not mischievous, is not good in the eyes of the law,
and consequently ought not to be introduced. All associations,
more especially those claiming to be religious establishments,
ought to have as their object the good of mankind, and the pro-
motion of religion. Any association seeking only its own
aggrandisement, its own glory and interests, is essentially hurtful
and vicious.
In this way we ought to look at the constitution, statutes, and
laws of religious orders, associations, or congregations of any deno-
mination. First, consider them in relation to the principles of
natural law (the real model of all positive laws, civil or religious),
and to the particular laws of France. Everything injurious to
those laws should be proscribed. Nothing should be even per-
mitted which, though it may not be expressly prohibited by those
laws, is yet at variance with their spirit.
Many religious orders had established themselves throughout
Christendom before the Jesuits. Had they been actuated by
the noblest views of public utility ? On that subject politicians
will not easily agree ; but policy almost always yields before the
torrent of reigning opinions, whenever an appearance of piety
furnishes a pretext either to seduce or to attack it.
People, almost without exception, allow themselves to be
attracted by outward appearances. Few men are struck with the
simple virtue which fulfils its duties in the shade, and is content
to do good without ostentation ; they admire and esteem singu-
larity of conduct, and brilliant outward show of mortifications —
practices often undertaken through pride, and subject to illusion,
even in the minds of those who perform them. These perfor-
mances are quite independent of true religion and virtue, since
we see them, in certain countries, surpassed by idolaters.
Appearances of this kind, whether true or false, have always
imposed on great, as well as on small, communities. To shew
this, let us pause for a moment to consider how those new estab-
lishments were formed in France.
It seems strange to prove their birth by the pains and penalties
which were imposed to prevent their formation. " But it is a
fact, that in 1215, the Lateran Council published an order
against inventing new religions/' by which was meant, new
orders or congregations ; " lest," said the canon, " their too great
diversity should create confusion in the Church." Accordingly
this council ordered, that whoever wished to profess a religious
life should enter into one of the orders already authorised. This
prohibition was wise, and accordant with the spirit of the purest
antiquity." We are quoting the words of the judicious Abbe do
Fleury.
" It is also a fact," he observes further, " that this decree was
so ill observed, that many more were established after its pro-
mulgation than before that time."
Bishops and priests are established by God to instruct the
people, and preach religion both to believers and infidels. There
have been times indeed in the history of the Church when unfor-
tunately priests and clergy were themselves almost in want of
instruction. Great ignorance prevailed, and means of obtaining
knowledge were found with difficulty.
As a reason for the institution of most religious orders, of those
at least which were authorised to perform the offices of the Church,
it has been supposed that the ordinary pastors neglected their
duties, and that the masses were left without instruction, and
buried in ignorance ; and it must be allowed that this supposition
is not without foundation.
In 1216, that is to say, one year after the prohibition issued
by the Council of Lateran, Saint Dominic, a Spaniard, instituted
an order, whose object was to preach to the people, and to defend
the faith against heretics.
Saint Francis D'Assise, in Umbria, had lately instituted another,
whose object was rather to edify, than to instruct. Nevertheless,
he also preached, although he was only a deacon ; and his dis-
ciples preached also.
0
About the end of the fifteenth century, Saint Gactano, a
Venetian, founded the order of tile Theatins, to reform the clergy,
and defend the faith against heretics.
Matthew Bushy, an Italian, in the commencement of the
sixteenth century, reformed the Brothers Minor, and devoted
himself to preaching the Wprd of God with his companions, who
were called Capuchins.
The Eecolets, another branch of the disciples of Saint Francis,
were established in 1531.
The establishment of the Barnabites was nearly coeval with
that of the Theatins, and professed the same object.
Lastly, Saint Ignatius proposed to catechise children, to con-
vert unbelievers, and to defend the faith against heretics ; his
institution was approved by Paul III. in 1540.
I shall not speak of the order of St. Benedict, who proposed,
according to the true principles of monastic life, to live in solitude,
simply as good Christians, who wish to work out their own
salvation. Some centuries afterwards they were found to be
living in a manner far different from exact obedience to rule.
Cluny and Citeaux were reformers, who soon in their turn also
needed reformation.
Neither shall I speak of an infinite number of religious orders
which had other objects — nor of various communities of men and
of women, instituted at different times.
But I cannot refrain from observing that the object of the
institution of the Jesuits, and that of most of the orders, of which
I have spoken, is exactly the same, namely, the conversion of
sinners, and in general, the instruction of the faithful, of infidels,
and heretics.
AVith respect to the education of youth, there were universities,
which had been founded in very ancient times ; above all that of
Paris, which was celebrated in the tenth century. In those
iiniversities, all sciences were taught, according to the enlighten-
ment of the age.
I say, then, that those orders, having been established under
the supposition that pastors, not being learned, did not give as
much instruction to the faithful as was necessary ; it would have
been more natural and more conformable to the spirit of the
Church, to begin by reforming and instructing the clergy, in order
to enable them to teach the people ; than to go and seek foreign
monies, in Spain and Italy, who, themselves, very soon needed
reforming. The founders of those orders and their first disciples
were virtuous persons. But sensible men have observed, that the
first fervour soon evaporates, that it seldom outlives a century in
any order, after which it becomes necessary to recall them to their
first principles.
Instead of protecting and assisting the ordinary pastors, who
are the proper ministers of the Church, they placed over them a
body of monks, who have oppressed them ; thus trusting to a
mercenary and auxiliary host, and neglecting the national forces.
The new Orders were crowned with favours and privileges. Their
exemptions were multiplied to the detriment of the jurisdiction of
the bishops, who, with too little foresight, abandoned the interests
of their clergy. While the court of Rome restricted their powers,
to increase its own, the bishops sought the alliance of Rome ; and
.now, though the clergy have learnt to see the evil of this policy
more clearly, yet many of them persist in adhering to it with less
pardonable want of consideration.
The professorial chairs in schools, and churches, seminaries,
and missions, were confided to the monks ; aud the parochial
clergy have become accustomed to consider these monks as their
masters and instructors. The parochial clergy are left in poverty
and dependence, and consequently without the means of learning ;
and if learning had not been encouraged in the universities of the
Sorbonne, respect for these clergymen would have been entirely
lost.
So, on the pretence that the ecclesiastics did not preach, the
Mendicant Friars were employed ; and their preaching not being
in accordance with the preaching of the Pastors, or these Mendi-
cants choosing to preach without their leave (for in 1516 it had
been found necessary to forbid the preaching of the Mendicants
without the leave of the ordinary), the Theatins were ordered to
perform those functions. The Barnabites were afterwards sub-
stituted for the Theatins. Next followed the Jesuits, professing
the same objects, endowed with the same exemptions, and with
far more extensive pretensions.
8
The Brothers of Christian Doctrine were afterwards substituted
for the Jesuits, who no longer catechised, excepting in their own
classes ; whereas Saint Ignatius catechised everywhere, — in
houses, and even in the streets. There have since arisen monks
of various sorts and under various denominations.
The Fathers of Christian Doctrine, were instituted to remedy
the want of learning of the other religious persons. Seminaries
for foreign missions were established to supplement the Jesuit
missions ; but instead of combining for the same objects, these
various orders of missionaries differed, to the scandal both of
believers and infidels. Congregations of Endists, Lazarists, and
Fathers of the Oratory, were formed to remedy the negligence or
the incapacity of others, whether in colleges or in the direction of
seminaries.
From these establishments numbers of monks have issued, of
communities and orders distinguished by their dress, divided by
interest, principles, and party.
The government has been overwhelmed by beggars, by idle
men, forgetful of the purposes of their institutions ; a multiplicity
of small colleges has attracted scholars without end, and has pro-
duced indifferent or faulty instruction ; and every order of monks
has usually produced an order of nuns of the same rule.
Ever good work, that was to be done, every abuse, that re-
quired reformation, has produced a new order in the Church.
Acts of devotion have caused the establishment of new houses ;
and by the superabundance of pious establishments the State is
impoverished and depopulated.
States benefit less than individuals by finding out their mistakes.
V (— '
The experiences of past ages is utterly lost on the succeeding age ;
and whenever zeal proposes any apparently desirable object,
pious persons, inexperienced and uninstructed, and therefore
without the means of foresight and consideration, are found, Avho
seize on what they imagine to be new ideas, and eagerly favour
new establishments.
I am far from denying that much temporary good was effected
by the founders, and by some monks of the various orders. But we
cannot conceal from ourselves the great practical and permanent
evil which results from them, in preventing incumbents and
9
curates, who endure the labour and the heat of the day, from the
attainment of learning, and a sufficient means of livelihood ; an evil
which now seems irremediable, and which the Church formerly
considered, and endeavoured to prevent, by forbidding the multi-
plication of religious orders.
I only speak according to the decisions of councils, and am
repeating the opinions of the most learned and pious bishops, who
have ever enlightened the Church. It has been said that the
multiplication of orders produced a healthy emulation. I appeal
to experience. It has produced wars and theological hatreds,
with which the State has sometimes been so kind as to embarrass
itself, as if these were affairs of State ; instead of despising or
silencing them. It has created cabals, parties, and factions ; and
when one of these becomes dominant, it crushes the others. The
competition of individuals may create healthy emulation, but
that of Orders engenders furious, widely spread, and lasting
jealousies.
Evils, which arise in states are not immediately perceptible.
Wise men foresee them, because they consider principles; but
most men have no principles. Zeal inflames vacant imaginations
on the subject of some projected establishment ; enthusiasm
seizes upon it ; the ambition is found, which is allied to the glory
of governing, adds to it the zeal which seems to justify all. If
serious persons oppose themselves to these projectors, from
superior views of preserving order, their attachment to religion is
suspected ; and that is an injustice of the gravest kind, and a
doubt most easily raised.
Persons who are indifferent, and they are the majority, look on
in silence. Wise men grow weary of constant resistance ; they
give way to importunity or to authority, and the mischief is per-
petrated under pretence of peace.
Finally, gentlemen, since the Government commands me
through you to deliver my opinion on religious constitutions, I
think that, if needful, the parochial clergy should have been
reformed, and instructed, and endowed ; and that the orders of
monks professing to have the same objects in view should have
been incorporated and regulated by law. At all events, those who
need reform, should be reformed, before new orders are created.
10
That is, I think, what religion demands, and the State should
desire. Without this, religious establishments must increase ad
in fin it if n> throughout all Christendom; "since the pretext of
instructing the ignorant, and converting heretics and infidels will
never he wanting ; there will always be good works to effect and
abuses to reform.
I now return to the order of the Jesuits. Their founder,
although brought up to the professions of arms, and full of the
ideas of chivalry, then prevalent in his country, was struck with
the ignorance of the people, and with the very small amount of
instruction they received. He became inflamed with an ardent
desire for the conversion of souls.* He devoted himself to the
service of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the holy Virgin, as their
knight, and after having practised frightful austeries and morti-
fications, he began to preach penitence and good works. Soon
after, he founded congregations, colleges, etc., and dedicated
himself to the education of youth.
Pope Paul III. at first refused to authorize this new order. A
congregation of cardinals decided, that it was not necessary to
introduce it into the Church. The Cardinal Cajetano pressed
Saint Ignatius to enter into the order of the Theatins ; but the
wish to be a founder, and the desire to obey no one but the Pope
in all things, and in all places, for the salvation of souls and the
propagation of the faith, prevailed. The desire which all Popes
have always had, to establish in all Christian states a standing
army under their orders, and subjects submitting to no authority
but theirs, caused this order to be authorised in 1540, by Pope-
Paul III.
The Bull of confirmation runs : — " Ignatius De Loyola, with
nine priests, his companions, having vowed their services to Jesus
Christ and to the Pope, has requested our approbation of a
society, whose form is a spiritual army under the standard of
the cross ; obeying none but Jesus Christ, and the Pope His
Vicar on the earth ; making a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedi-
ence to a General, in whom they would see Jesus Christ, as if He
was present, and a special vow to the Pope and his successors, to
execute everything, that they should command for the glory of
* See the life of Saint Ignatius, by Boiihours, p. 31, et inffn.
11
God, the salvation of souls, and the propagation of the faith in
any place whatever, to which he may please to send them ; with
power to make general constitutions by the voice of the majority ;
submitting particular constitutions to the General, who would have
the right to command them."
Since that time, they have obtained an infinite number of Bulls
and Briefs in their favour, designated in the Institutions under
the general name of Apostolic Letters. There are ninety-two of
these Bulls and Briefs, beginning with the first Bull, given on the
27th of September, 1540, of which I have been speaking, down to
the Brief of the 6th of May, 1753. This collection fills the first
260 pages of the first volume.
Next follows the summary of the privileges obtained by the
Jesuits. They are arranged in alphabetical order. From p. 261
to p. 336 the}- recount, in general terms, the exemptions, which
have been granted to them directly by Popes, and those belonging
to other orders, in which they have a right to participate.
In the third place, the preliminary examination for the recep-
tion of members (sujets} comprehends all the pages between
p. 337 and 357.
In the fourth place, we find the constitutions of the Order
divided into ten parts: each of which, excepting the last, is
divided into several chapters, and followed by declarations in the
form of explanations and elucidations. These additions have as
much authority as the text, as much even as the constitutions
(according to the notice at the head of each).*
These constitutions, including the examination, which precedes
them, occupy from p. 357 to p. 448.
In the fifth place appear in this volume the decrees of general
congregations. It is said, eighteen of these were held before the
publication of the edition of Prague in 1757, and that there has
been another since that time, in 1758, at the time of the election
of the present General; and that three among these eighteen
congregations were held during the lifetime of generals, that
is to say, the fifth congregation in 1593, the sixth in 1608, and
•'.• These volumes were those of the fkmons, but too often forgotten
" Constitutions of the Jesuits," which were produced during the trial of
Father Lavalette. (Editor.)
12
the fourteenth in 1696. This collection is found between p. 449
and p. 696.
Lastly, between p. 697 and p. 731, is a collection of canons of
general congregations ; but there are only the canons of the first
eleven congregations ; those of the seven last congregations have
not been printed.
The above are the contents of the first volume which was sent
to me.
The second volume contains ten bodies of collections besides an
index.
The first body is a collection of censures and precepts, divided
into five chapters, from the first page to the seventh.
The second contains the formularies of congregations from p. 7
to p. 69.
The third is a summary of the constitutions, with common
rules and particulars of the various offices in the Society. There
is also the letter of Saint Ignatius to the Jesuits of Portugal on
obedience ; and it ends with the different formularies for vows,
p. 169.
The fourth is the plan laid down for studies, known under the
name of "Ratio Studiormn" from p. 169, to p. 238 ; afterwards
follow ordinances of generals, from p. 238 to p. 286.
The sixth collection, from p. 286, is an instruction for superiors,
given by Claude Aquaviva, divided into six chapters, up to p. 303.
The seventhj which contains instructions for provincials, is a
kind of summary in twenty- one articles drawn from various
writings of generals, up to p. 346.
The eighth body of collections, under the title of " Industries,"
is also by Aquaviva, on the means to obtain the government of
minds, up to p. 384.
The ninth collection contains the spiritual exercises of Saint
Ignatius, in forty-six pages.
Finally, the tenth is a directory for spiritual exercises, from
p. 431 to the last, p. 472. This volume concludes with a general
index.
I shall begin what I have to say on the subject of the Jesuits
by an observation on the institution of their society. It was not
copied from any model, and it is not probable that it will ever
13
serve as a model for others. It is the fate of extrordinary men
to excite too much admiration, and exaggerated censure. Judg-
ments must vary according to the different points of view from
which we take our observation, or how could it "be that some men
revere that as the chef d'ceitrre of wisdom and Christian perfec-
tion, which other men consider as an overthrow of reason and
social order ? And here, as on all other occasions, we must throw
off the prejudices of party ; ecclesiastics must be judged like other
men on principles of law and custom ; we should in other respects
have a right to judge them more severely than other men. It
has been asked, whether the society of Jesuits direct their cares
and their labours with an intention to be useful to the Church and
to the State.
No body of men, 110 company that ever existed, could be
entirely justified in a discussion of that kind ; it would be unjust
to examine that particular society in such a way; it would
be unjust to question the conduct and intentions of individuals,
for motives and intentions are beyond the reach of human
judgment. But with respect to this Institution and its con-
stitutions, they should be examined judicially, with a view
to their tendencies, — whether their aim and intention is to
promote public good — whether it employs its members in a
manner, that is profitable to the State and to the Church; or
rather for the private interest of the Society in preference to the
public weal.
It is clear that both morality and policy demand, that the
Jesuits should either be acquitted or found guilty of the accusa-
tions brought against them ; for the State ought not to abandon
the education of youth to persons suspected on reasonable grounds ;
and it would be criminal to allow a whole society to lie perpe-
tually under unjust imputations,
Thus, the interests of the State, and the interests of the Jesuits,
equally require a stringent inquiry into the truth of these accusa-
tions ; and that justice should be done before the whole world.
Priests and monks cannot be so insensible to their reputation as
to refuse to clear themselves of strong suspicions, which, if not
disproved, would become acknowledged opprobriums. They ought
to answer them openly, not by oblique means, not like intriguers;
14
by delays extracted from the kindness of the sovereign ; by com-
mands that either obstruct or suspend their justification, which by
delay would hourly become more difficult. They ought to answer
publicly and judicial!}-. The General ought to join himself with
the rest of the Society and demand justice. They should declare
their doctrine, which if it is Christian, should be proclaimed from
the house-tops. Let them produce their constitutions and all
their rules. They owe it to the State : they owe it to the Church ;
they owe it to themselves. It is thus that oppressed innocence
conducts itself; it shows itself in the light of day. Innocence
does not fear the light. But do not allow them to offer promises
and oaths in the place of justifications ; promises and vows, which
they have not power to fulfil ; or denials, which they know in
their consciences are untrue. Let them abandon the dark
manoeuvres of a policy, which would furnish new grounds of
accusation against them.
The Parliament of Paris has condemned them on account of
their books, which are their first accusers and their judges. The
General is pointed out in the Appeal, as connected with abuses,
which public opinion has taken note of in their constitutions. Let
the Jesuits join us if they are innocent. The Ministry wish to
find none in the State but citizens ; and none in the Church but
virtuous ecclesiastics. Their functions are not confined to the
punishment of criminals ; they have the more important duty of
protecting the innocent. Such being the case, the first thing that
I ask is, that the Jesuits should communicate all their constitu-
tions to me — their rules or statutes — in short, everything be-
longing to them which has the force of law in their society.
They have brought to the Register Office of the Court of Paris,
the constitutions of the edition of Prague, which they had been
asked for ; but it is certain that they have many other laws or
rules in force among them.
I find among the books, which the Companion of the Provincial
ought to have in his archives (Vol. ii. p. 121) about twenty
volumes, among which arc some that quote books and writings in
manuscript,
Although some of these have been printed since the time when
the rules for the Companion of the Provincial were laid down, and
15
sonic of these are in the edition of Prague, we cannot be sure,
that all of these have heen printed ; or rather, I should say, it is
perfectly certain that they have not.
It is stated in the preface to the Decrees of the Congregation,
that all of them are not comprehended in the collection ; but that
it is a selection, and that those only are omitted which bear upon
isolated facts.
I see in the preface to the Abridgment of Privileges, that
besides the concessions, which arc recorded there, there are other
privileges which may be granted by the General of the Order.
The ordinances of the Generals are selected or abridged, as is
shown by the preface placed at the head of the ordinances, page
208.
Besides tbe Apostolic Letters granted to the Jesuits, they pos-
sess all the Bulls from which they derive their privileges. This
is shown in the preface and in the abridgment of these privileges.
These are immense collections and enormous volumes ; the Roman
collection of Bulls consists of several volumes in folio.
But this is not all. They have rights and privileges granted
by what they call spoken ornc/cs, rh-a? rods omcula. These
oracles are titles of a kind the most singular of any by which
credulity may be abused.
A Pope is supposed in common conversation, or otherwise, to
have said to a credible person, that he granted him a favour ; or
that he verbally forbade (something or other). That is a verbal
oracle ; and that oracle has the same power, the same authority
as if the privilege was bestowed by a Brief, or by a Bull (for these
are the very terms of the abridgment of the constitution). These
verbal oracles are attested by the credible person who heard them.
His authority alone is sufficient to cause them to be inserted in
these collections, in order that they may be made use of whenever
they arc wanted. I shall presently quote one of these manu-
scripts in the Collections, Vol. i. in the edition of Prague, p. 282.
I should add that this Abridgment of Privileges, in which they
arc only named, consists of 72 pages in folio, with tAvo columns
in each page, making 144 columns in folio of simple titles of
privileges. One cannot, therefore, be surprised at M. Scrvin's
16
saying that this order is founded on privileges rather than on
rules.
I ask whether such a code of laws can have hcen framed to he
presented for the inspection of nations ¥ It is, however, the code
of an order, which has existed 220 years ; and it is a code, which
must augment daily ; it would require the labour of many years
to read it and examine it.
What can we think of an order of any kind, whose justification
depends on the examination and collation of fifty volumes in folio,
while it was enough to examine two of those volumes to condemn
it?
It must also be stated, that the declarations (which are only
commentaries on the constitutions,) and the statutes already
made, and those, which may be made hereafter, whatever they
may be, are declared to be of equal authority with the constitu-
tions emanating from the Pope and from the founder. These are
writings Deutero- Canonical, a name which theologians give to
those books of Holy Writ which were last declared to be authentic.
I should add that it was their General, Laynez, who assembled a
congregation to obtain from that congregation the singular power
to confer on these writings that authority and authenticity.
How can we judge of a code of laws when we are not certain
that we possess the whole of it ; in which the ordinances of the
legislator are confounded with the commentaries made upon them,
the glosses and interpretation of persons interested in them, and
petitioners ; and in which both one and the other are of equal
weight and authority ; and where they are selected, abridged, and
mutilated at will ? AVhat, I say, can one think of a legislation
in which parties may make laws for themselves by alterations or
interpretations so as to create rights and exemptions, as they may
want them, and which enables them to fabricate privileges by
supposing statements made in familiar conversations ?
What a source of misconceptions, to find maxims laid down
by plaintiffs regarded as of equal weight with the decisions of the
judge, and that too a judge invested with such enormous powers ;
to place on an equality the laws of the legislator and the glosses
of the commentator ; and to represent a man as legislating in a
familiar conversation when he docs not intend it !
17
In the two volumes in folio of the constitutions of the Jesuits,
no more mention is made of the laws of the country, in which
they intend to abide, than if that country had never had any
laws, and than if no church had ever existed in that state ; ex-
cepting in one instance, in respect to iimsions, and in two others,
where the Society concedes some privileges in favour of the
Spanish Inquisition. (See the 5th Congregation Decrct. 21, p. 549,
and Compendium Verbo Absolutio, p. 267.)
It must be allowed in favour of the Institution, that it has been
approved of, confirmed, and favoured by several Popes ; and even
by the Church in the Council of Trent ; that its constitutions
have been confirmed by name by all Popes ; that the establish-
ments of this Order have been protected and favoured by kings ;
and the Jesuits have lived in France on the faith of a possession
authorised by the two powers ; a possession which, according to
civil laws, would create an unassailable prescriptive right, secure
from every objection. But prescription cannot be alleged con-
trary to public right, and abuse (if there is abuse) cannot be
covered by the lapse of time, nor by the weight of authority.
In the second place, it is contrary to public order, that associa-
tions, societies, or orders should be formed in a state, without the
authorisation of the state ; for if it were otherwise, we must say
that states have no right to maintain themselves.
The constitutions of a religious order arc conditions, to the
observance of which it is bound by its allegiance to the Church ;
and as no one but the Pope can represent the Church, it is to the
Pope, that the approbation of all religious orders must be referred,
and to whom they present themselves to be established through-
out the Christian world.
But the Pope is not the absolute master of the Church, and the
Church herself has no power over temporal interests. The Church
exists and subsists in the State ; and the State may decide whether
it will admit, or refuse to admit, any order or institution within
its dominions.
Such reception necessarily supposes the examination of the
conditions on which an order proposes to attach itself to the
State, and according to which the State receives and promises to
protect it. The State must be informed of the intentions of the
c
18
ecclesiastics who ask to be received, what is their peculiar charac-
teristic, and in what respects they are to be distinguished from
others ; under what laws they intend to live, and what rules they
promise to observe. In short, the State must understand the form
of their constitution and government, in order that it may find in
their superiors responsible guarantees for the fidelity of their
members.
The State must consider also whether such a new order is not
injurious to the public or to the rights of bodies already established.
All such as might be injured by them have a right to remonstrate
and legally represent their cases, and to oppose encroachments on
their rights by the proposed new establishment.
It is unheard of that a State should be obliged to admit men
they do not know ; and they cannot know them until they present
their constitutions, institutions, and laws. It is therefore contrary
to the rights of all men, and contrary to public order, that the
constitutions of any order, from whomsoever they may emanate,
should not be presented ; it is contrary to reason and good sense,
that they should not be made public, or at least sufficiently well
known.
The laws of the kingdom require an authorization by letters
patent from his Majesty, registered in the supreme courts; and
there is no Catholic state where the sovereign does not take the
same or equal precautions.
I cannot discover that the constitutions of the Jesuits have ever
been seen or examined by any tribunal whatsoever, secular or
ecclesiastic ; by any sovereign ; not even by the Court of Chancery
of Prague, when permission was asked to print them : for it is
very remarkable that in that edition, which is the most complete
and authentic edition that has been made, there is no "Privilege
of the Emperor," a formality required in the Empire, as it is in
France. There is no " privilege " to the edition of Antwerp. I
do not know whether for the editions of Lyons and of Home
privileges were granted by sovereigns.
In France, Jesuits have never obtained letters patent, approving
of their institution and constitutions.
And now I must remind you, in the first place, that all this has
passed under the veil of religion. The most important laws of
19
Franco are set at nought ; or authority has been taken by surprise
and passed over these men. Formalities which the laws prescribe
have been omitted ; now, some ages after, the oversight is per-
ceived. Meantime establishments have been made ; and it seems
that abuses and vices acquire by impunity a sort of prescription,
and a right to be unreformable.
The situation of the Jesuits in France is not very distinctly
ascertained. A religious order is not merely a set of men distin-
guished by a peculiar dress ; it is an ecclesiastical society attached
to the State by laws and constitutions.
If neither the Government nor the Councils have ever seen or
examined their laws and constitutions, who can say whether they
have ever really received the orders, which they profess ?
There were conditions laid down at Poissy for their reception,
and, in 1603, for their re-establishment. It follows, that they have
never been received in France unconditionally ; which leaves the
question open to examination — whether the conditions so imposed
have been observed and fulfilled by them.
After all, it is easier to learn whether they are fit to be re-
ceived, than whether they are authoritatively received. This last
question has become a subject of dispute. When they have been
asked what they are, they have answered, " Talcs Qttales" One
must answer a wise man according to his understanding, and one
who is not wise according to his intention. One might return to
them the answer they give, and answer here and everywhere else
by telling them that they are received " Talitcr Qnalitcr" They
have supposed that they were received. Their reception is only
founded on supposition. They were only tolerated at first ; since
1603 they have had a less precarious existence.
But the character of mystery is sufficient by itself to doom and
condemn their constitutions. They have taken all sorts of pre-
cautions to keep them a secret. Their rule forbids them to
communicate them to strangers ; and, moreover, they may not
communicate the whole of them to their own members. They
took care to print them themselves, in their own college, in Rome ;
in their college at Prague ; or to secure the whole edition, when
they had them printed elsewhere.
In 1621 the Jesuits refused to communicate their constitutions
c2
20
to the Procurcur- General of the Parliament of Aix, when ho
wanted to sec, whether there was anything in them repugnant to
the liberties of the Gallican Church ; and it is very astonishing
that they obtained by subtlety a lettre dc cachet, though it was a
time of trouble, to dispense them from showing them. But it is
quite as remarkable that the constitutions of a religious order
should be secrets of State or religious mysteries. No secrets of
State last through a whole age, and religion does not teach dis-
simulation. Pagan emperors had a right to demand the laws of
the Christian religion, in order that they might see, whether they
contained anything dangerous to public order ; and this demand was
never contested. Even without their asking for it, the Christians
described their rules to them in certain apologetic writings. A
healthy policy cannot allow states to be ignorant of principles of
action, which may affect their governments. The refusal to give
such information, or to supply any statement, must proceed from
a guilty intention, or a supposition that nations are not capable of
appreciating public good.
Before I proceed to discuss the details of the constitutions, I
must examine the general constitution of the order ; in whom its
government is placed ; and how a constitution was formed, which
has so long bewildered the courts and depositories of national law,
and almost overpowered the Church herself. In what respects
did the early Generals add to, or alter, the plan and intentions of
the founder 't I must show the spirit and the letter of the con-
stitutions ; their objects and their basis ; whether they are vicious
in themselves, or whether their aim has been perverted ; how
they have been extended, and, above all, how they have been
made use of.
The constitution of the Society is not so easily to be defined as
it may appear to be. Its government is monarchical, and depends
solely on the will of one superior, who is always subordinate to
the Pope : " Monarchia cst in definitionibus Unites Superioris
arbitrio contcnta " —so runs the Bull of Gregory XIV., 1561.
Saint Ignatius intended to establish a mixed monarchy.
The right to make constitutions and particular rules, and also
to alter them, was given to the General and his companions ; that
is to say, to the general congregation which represented them.
21
By the Bulls of Paul III., 1540 and 1543, the General had the
right to confer all offices as he pleased, and to command all the
members of the Society.
The legislative power thus rested in the hands of the General
and the Society, or in the general congregation, which represented
them.
Laynez, in the first congregation that assembled after the
death of Ignatius, caused it to be decided, that the General only
K had the right to make rules, " Sotus pr&positits Generalis autori-
tatem habct Regular condendi." (Can. 3rd, Congreg. 1, p. 698,
Tom. 1.)
The Generals then having the right to nominate to all offices
and employments, and convoking no general congregation, the
legislative power necessarily rested entirely in their hands. When
the congregation is assembled it represents the whole Society ; but
it is very seldom assembled, excepting when it meets to elect a
general. The supreme power rests essentially with the whole
Society. It is superior to the General, and, in certain cases, has
the right to depose him. But it cannot exercise its power, unless
it is assembled, and the General alone can assemble the congrega-
tion. The general congregation must always be composed of the
creatures of the General, infatuated respecting the privileges which
belong to his office. At all other times the General is the only
representative of the Society and of the general congregation. In
fact, the whole order, with all its authority, is comprised in him.
The prerogative of the General being thus the constructive form
. of the Society, let us see in what that prerogative consists.
The General has the right to command and regulate everything
in the Society.
His right of administration is unlimited ; he can exercise over
every individual member the supreme power of the whole Society.
All the authority of the provincials and other superiors is
derived from the General as commander-in-chief, and he bestows
on every one of them such powers as he thinks fit.
His duty is to see that the constitutions are observed, but he
may dispense with any observances as he pleases.
No member of the Society may accept of any proffered dignity
out of the Society without his permission.
22
He has all power and authority to make rules, ordinances, and
declarations with respect to the constitutions ; the other superiors
have no authority in that respect, excepting such as he may choose
to confer on them.
By the Bulls of 1540, 1543, and 1571, the Society and the
General may make any special constitutions, they may think
proper for the advantage of the Society ; and they may alter them,
abrogate them, and make new ones, and date them at any time
they please ; and from that time, these must be considered as con-
firmed by apostolic authority.
For the advantage of the Society, he may command any mem-
ber without exception, in virtue of obedience ; and though he may
have conferred powers on inferior superiors, he may nevertheless
approve or annul anything, they may have done, and regulate
everything as he thinks best. He must always be respected and
obeyed, as he is held to be the representative of Jesus Christ.
He alone has the power to make contracts of all kinds ; except-
ing that he may not dissolve colleges or houses (unless they are
very small colleges or residences) without sharing that power with
the superiors of them.
Contracts are not to be made by general assemblies, but
according to the constitutions, and by the act of the General.
He cannot divert the revenues of any college; and if he should
give any part of them to his relatives, that would be a cause for his
deposition ; but the declarations do not forbid him to give alms
to any amount, that he may deem conducive to the glory of God.
He ought to consult on important affairs with his fellow mem-
bers, but the decision of them rests with him alone.
The General alone has the right to nominate provincials and
rectors, unless he chooses to do it by commission ; he alone has
the right to admit members into the Society, unless he communi-
cates that faculty ; he alone may dismiss professed members and
coadjutors ; he has in that respect all the power, that is vested in
the whole Society.
He has the right to appoint guards and officers ; he may create
professed members and coadjutors, both spiritual and temporal ;
and he must carefully retain all the powers, which are given to
him by the constitutions, to change the members of the Society.
2-3
He has the entire government and regulation of the colleges.
The constitution does not command under the penalty of sin,
but the General commanding in the name of Jesus Christ, and in
virtue of obedience, may command under the penalty of mortal
sin and of venial sin.
He has the right to declare, to augment, or to restrain reserved
cases in the Society.
He may institute missions in all parts of the world ; he may
change the missionaries, and in certain cases recall established
missions.
He may send members of the Society wherever he chooses, even
among infidels.
He alone has the power to commute the legacies which have
been left to the Society.
He has the right to revise and correct all the books belonging
to the Society.
He may distribute by his own power, and enable others in the
like manner to distribute the favours granted by Popes to the
Society.
He may grant indulgences to the congregations of scholars, whom
he has affiliated to the congregation at Rome ; to congregations,
who are not scholars, both of men and women, who are directed by
the Society in all parts of the world ; and to several congregations
in the same place.
He may (in virtue of the supreme authority which he has over
the order) make affectionate protectors and benefactors to the
Society participants of the merits of good works, and of the prayers
and suffrages of the Society.
He must thoroughly examine into the consciences of his subjects,
and particularly into those of the elder superiors.
Everything, which he has granted and ordered, remains granted
and ordered until it may be revoked by his successor, even the
precepts which he has enjoined.
Nevertheless he is subordinate to the whole body of the Society,
and in certain cases he may be deposed.
In order that all matters may be centralized in the General
by universal and consecutive correspondence, the provincials of all
the provinces of Europe must write to the General every month,
24
and the superior rectors of houses and the masters of provinces
once every three months.
When provincials write to the General, the}- must take care to
detail exactly the state of their houses, of their colleges, and of the
whole province, in order that the General may as perfectly under-
stand the individuals and the affairs of all the provinces, as if all
those circumstances had passed under his own eyes.
Every provincial and every rector has an adviser, a sort of con-
troller, who must also correspond with the General occasionally.
Every superior must send two catalogues every year to the
General : in the first catalogue, he must inscribe the names of all
the persons in his house, their age, their country, at what period
they entered the society, what they have studied, wrhat exercises
they have kept, their degrees in sciences, etc.
In the second catalogue, he must describe the qualities and the
talents of every individual, the inclination of his mind, and his
powers of judgment ; whether he is prudent, versed in business,
his temper, and for what employment in the Society he is
adapted.
These privileges place in the hands of the General the whole
legislative power of the Society ; they cede its exercise to him,
and by this means, make him absolutely independent.
When it is necessary to write of matters which require secresy,
they are ordered to write in cypher, so that if the letter was sent
open it could not be understood ; it is set down that the General
shall prescribe the cypher, " Modnm prcescribel generalis."
In respect to the authority of the Pope, the Jesuits were obliged
by the Bulls of Paul III. of 1540 and 1543, according to the
general and special vow of St. Ignatius and his companions, to
execute everything that the Pope should command, both for the
purpose of saving souls, and for the propagation of their faith,
even if he should send them to Turks or infidels. " Etiamsi
ad qnascamque Provincias mittere velkt — sire ad Turcas — sive ad
qnoscumque alios Infideks" So runs the Bull of 1543.
But the authority of the Pope in this respect has been limited
to missions, and even to missions to foreign countries. The General
may order missions or missionaries to remain where they have
been sent, as long as he pleases, and recall them at his pleasure,
25
even those, who have been sent by the Pope himself, unless the
period of their mission has been distinctly fixed by the Pope.
If any doubt should arise about the Institution, its constitutions,
or its privileges, the Pope or the General must be appealed to.
The intention of the constitutions (according to the Declaration
on Ch. 2, vol. i. p. 418, although it only relates to missions) is
that in things which may be done either by the Pope or by the
General ; the General should be addressed rather than the Pope ;
and they add that the latter course is better as a matter of con-
science, considering the vow of obedience.
A Jesuit cannot appeal to the Pope from the orders of the
General, unless the Pope should give him a particular permission
to do so.
It is not necessary to have a dispensation from the Pope to be
released from vows ; the authority of the General is sufficient.
It follows from this review of the authority and powers of the
General, together with the preceding one, that the General may
reinstate the Society in any privileges, which may have been
encroached upon, without having recourse to the Pope, and
independently of him.
The General alone has power to make constitutions and rules ;
but as it may be said, that, according to the constitutions, he only
has power to make particular rules and constitutions, and that
everything essential and of substantial importance to the institu-
tion is immutable, it becomes necessary to discover what is the
essence of the institution, " Substantialia Instituti" and what are
the fundamental points.
Great difficulties have always arisen when attempts have been
made to obtain a solution of this question ; the provinces have
often insisted on the importance of its being decided, and generals
have as often opposed it, because a decision would of course define
the limits of their powers.
In the 5th congregation in 1593, on most of the provinces
demanding, that it should be decided what were the essential
points of the institution, " Substantialialnstituti" the congregation,
on the recommendation of commissioners named for the purpose,
and after long study and exact research, declared, that the points
contained in the formulary of the institution proposed to Pope
26
Julius III., and confirmed by him and his successors, and those
which in that formulary relate to those constitutions in the form
of a declaration, " Vel quce in cadem referuntur ad. constitutiones
declarationis gratia'' should be declared the essence of the insti-
tution, and that although there were other essential points, it was
better not to speak of them.
Some persons, ascertaining that the meaning of this decree was
obscure, — and indeed, it is not intelligible, — demanded at a
subsequent sitting, that it should be more clearly explained ; they
proposed to add some examples to it, and to end the decree with
" and such like."
On this demand, and by the advice of a commission, the con-
gregation made the decree which is Article 58. It states that
the essential articles of the institution, " Substantial/a Instituti"
are above all, those presented to Pope III., confirmed by him and
by his successors ; and next, those things, without which these
articles could not be carried out, or could scarcely exist ; as for
example : — First, That there are objections, which may prevent
admission into the Society ; — Secondly, That no judicial form
shall take place in order to expel members from the Society ;—
Thirdly, That the communication of matters of conscience to the
superior is absolutely necessary ; — Fourthly, That it was equally
necessary, that every one should consent to reveal to the superior
everything they had observed in him ; — Fifthly, That all the
members should be ready to denounce each other mutually and
charitably.
At the end of this decree is subjoined " and such /ike," which
the congregation thinks it had better not define, leaving the
definition to be made by the General. Aquaviva presided at this
general congregation, which was the fifth.
In the seventh, which took place in 1615, under Witeleschi,
there was another attempt to agitate the question of the essential
articles of the institution, and it was insisted, that they should be
specified, and determined. Witeleschi obtained a decision, that all
doubts should be referred to the General ; and they repeated what
already had been decided more than once, that provincial congre-
gations are forbidden to agitate this question.
Thus, the fundamental articles of the Institution " SubstantiaKa"
27
their determination, and their declaration were left to the arbitra-
tion of the General, which is the greatest prerogative.
These laws (if they can be called laws) and these rules on the
fundamental constitutions of the Society — on the power of the
Society and the power of the General, and on the powers of the
general congregation, are drawn from the Bulls of Popes, from
the decrees of congregations, and from declarations. A strange
code ; increased or diminished by the caprices or by the ambition
of generals, and by the interests of the Society ; in which there is
no one fixed principle but the power of the Society, or rather the
power of the General (for the power of the Pope is modified) ; and
in which there are no certain laws about what is essential, except-
ing five or six maxims of monastic policy ; iii which everything is
subject to explanation, to arbitrary interpretation and distinctions ;
from which anything may be drawn, for or against; and from
which one may conclude with the help of discordant passages, or
passages purposely rendered obscure, that the Pope has all au-
thority over the Society, and that he has not ; that the General
may make laws and constitutions, and that he may not ; that he
may alter them, and that he cannot alter them ; that he may dis-
pense from them, and that he cannot dispense from them ; that
the Society (or the general congregation) has the legislative power,
and that it has not ; finally, that the General is all powerful,
and that he is not; and that the essence of the constitution is
immutable, and that it is not immutable.
There are provincial congregations, which count for nothing.
After all, the Society consists of the General and his assistants,
and some provincials under his orders.
The constitutions speak of four kinds of members — the pro-
fessed (some under four, and some under three vows), coadjutors,
scholars, and novices. They say that they have nothing to do
with indifferents : who are members under examination, that it
may be decided, whether they are to be placed in the rank of
priests or lay members.
But it should not be said, that there are only four kinds of
Jesuits, for I find a fifth kind in the declarations on the first
chapter of examinations, vol. i., p. 342. There are some persons,
who are admitted to the solemn profession of three vows accord-
28
ing to tlio Bull of Pope Julius III. Those are neither professed
members, nor coadjutors, nor scholars, nor novices.
There arc also, according to the Bull of Paul III., persons,
living under obedience to the General, who enjoy exemptions,
powers, and faculties, which would seem to withdraw them from
his authority, but over whom Pope Paul declares, that the
General shall retain jurisdiction implicitly and entirely.
Who arc these people ? Are they the unknown Jesuits, living
with their families, without any religious dress, but dressed
decently according to the custom of the place of tlieir residence ;
who have no repugnance, according to the letter of the constitu-
tions, to the profession of poverty ? Are these the invisible Jesuits
so often talked of during two hundred years ?
Grotius, who was allied in friendship with some learned
men belonging to the Society, mentions such men in his
history of the Low Countries; and says of them " Dant Nnmiua
Conjuges."
It is difficult to discern or unravel facts in so mysterious an
order as the Jesuits.
We find persons (men and women) affiliated, of which fact we
cannot doubt; these are aggregations or affiliations, which the
generals of the order have a right to grant to persons well
affected towards their order.
St. Ignatius (we must allow) formed his projects with a species of
enthusiasm proceeding from a warm imagination, which heightened
his zeal. Conceiving that it was possible to preach and teach
religion without study, and to convert Jews, Greeks, and infidels of
all nations, knowing no language but Spanish, he thought learning
unnecessary ; although the greatest luminaries of the Church
thought otherwise, and that to teach required preparation and
capacity. These groundless convictions form the character of
enthusiasm. And we may perceive an indication of this opinion
in the injunction of Melchior Canus, the learned Bishop of the
Canary Islands, to Ignatius, forbidding him to dogmatise or
preach until he had studied theology four years ; from which
we must conclude that the bishop thought that his mind
was not in a tranquil state. But we ought to do him the
justice to allow (setting aside his sanctity which has been recog-
29
nized by tho Church), that if the study of legends, which it has
heen considered necessary to rectify since those days, had given
him. some inexact ideas, nothing had ever tainted the sincerity of
his heart, and that he had no object but the salvation of souls.
His views were always pure and disinterested ; he carried into
his institution the ideas, which were universally dominant in those
days, of the absolute power of the Pope ; but he did not draw from
them the frightful consequences, which they have occasioned. He
remained faithful to the ancient doctrines of the Church, and did
not wish to introduce any new ideas. His morality was admir-
able, and rather inclines to rigidity than to relaxation. He
never supposed that any inconvenience could arise from an
institution, in which it was only proposed to catechise the
ignorant and convert sinners. If he was ill prepared to teach, he
left his followers the best of all instructions — his bright example,
and the memory of his virtues ; he had no worldly views, and
thought only of the spiritual welfare of his Society.
It is very likely, that if the blessed St. Francis Borgia had
been the immediate successor of St. Ignatius, he might have pro-
longed the first fervour of the institution, and the disinterested
views of the founder. Laynez, who succeeded St. Ignatius, and
Aquaviva, who, after Everard, succeeded Francis de Borgia,
almost entirely altered, or rather corrupted the institutions of the
founder of the Jesuits; and these are the two generals whom we
must consider as the real founders of the existing Society, — such
as it has long existed in the world.
Laynez, an ecclesiastical courtier, chosen General by intrigue,
and almost a Pelagian in principle ; and Aquaviva, an illustrious
Neapolitan, educated in the pomp and grandeur of Rome, who
was disgusted by the simple disinterested views of St. Ignatius :
these two Generals established the temporal empire of the Society,
on the model of that at Rome, which they had before them.
They there beheld an empire half political, half ecclesiastical ; a
court, and courtiers, and a treasury ; the union of two species of
authority in the person of one, whom they considered as the
sovereign lord of the whole world, exercising spiritual authority
personally and by his priests — to whom he committed this one kind
30
of power — and exercising the temporal power through laymen,*
to whom he entrusted his authority, when he found its weight
fatiguing ; while he possessed the power of transferring or sup-
pressing empires and kingdoms, and of establishing, correcting,
and deposing sovereigns.
St. Ignatius having been nourished and educated in the most
absurd opinions of the sovereign and absolute light of the Pope,
both in spiritual and temporal matters, thought that he ought
to make his Society a monarchy. He did not reason systema-
tically, but his successors did.
They said that the form of the primitive Church was only
intended for the first ages of Christianity, which of course was
not what Jesus Christ had principally in view. They formed
systems, which the flatterers of the Court of Rome (men like
the Jesuit Palavicini), endeavoured to justify by sophisms —
systems which the Abbe de Fleury has shown in his fourth dis-
course on the Gospels, to be directly contradictory to Holy Writ.
But it was in that system of the temporal sovereignty of the
Church that Laynez and Aquaviva directed the Institution of the
Jesuits. They thought, that they ought to make their monarchy
splendid also, in order to make it respected ; to increase its
authority, both spiritual and temporal, its consideration and its
riches.
They did not see that it is impossible to compare a predominant
religious power like that of Rome, with a monastic order, nor the
Pope as a temporal prince with the General of a religious society.
And thus, instead of the honesty and simplicity of heart of
St. Ignatius, they substituted a worldly policy according to which
the Society has ever since governed its establishments, its
missions, its colleges, its seminaries, and its whole direction.
Borgia, who succeeded Laynez, and was a more religious man,
whose mind more resembled that of the founder, observed this
inclination as early as in 1569, that is thirteen years after the
death of St. Ignatius. He blamed the ambition, the pride, the
love of riches, which even in those early days broke out in the
company, and he feared its sad effects : this is seen in his letters
to the brothers in Aquitaine, which were printed in 1611 at Ypres,
* Many of the Cardinals were laymen, others only deacons.
31
and were altered afterwards in 1635 in the edition of Antwerp.
I omit some other similar testimonies about the same time.
But I cannot omit to notice that of Mariana, a celebrated
Jesuit, who had entered into the Society in 1554 under the
generalship of St. Ignatius himself, and who had lived under five
generals up to 1624, at which time he died, aged eighty-seven
years.
In his book on the faults of the Society, he says that St.
Ignatius did not govern in the despotic manner that Aquaviva
did, and that it was not surprising that his despotism alienated
men's minds.
In the 19th chapter he asserts, that the laws of the Society,
and still more the rules, had often been altered, and that the
constitution of the Society was entirely opposed to the plans
of the founders.
St. Ignatius, having established a monarchy, particularly
enjoined obedience as a fundamental law. His letter to the
Jesuits of Portugal is full of quotations from Scripture mis-
understood, and examples misapplied, or apocryphal histories ;
but it never occurred to him, that too much power could be
conceded, because he did not intend to abuse it. He did not
think that it was necessary to impose limits to virtue. His suc-
cessors, in order to maintain and perpetuate their temporal power,
stretched their authority, which was already exorbitant.
Saint Ignatius intended to found a religious order, in which
passive obedience does not seem dangerous, having no object but
spirituality. His successors transformed it into a political body
of monks taking monastic vows, yet living in the world: or, if you
please so to describe it, a monkish order of secular priests taking
monastic vows, — a kind of society of which the Jesuits themselves
have never been able to give an exact account.
Laynez, in order to secure to himself the office of General after
the death of Ignatius, began by inspiring a species of fanaticism ; '
declaring, before the scrutiny, that if it should be proved by
the votes that all the members were of one mind, their perfect
agreement must be considered as evident manifestation of the
will of God.
Pope Paul IV. intimated, that he thought the perpetuity of
32
the office of General was a dangerous idea ; but Laynez obtained
a decision of the general congregation, that they chose to adhere
to their constitutions ; and in consequence the office of General
was declared perpetual. The letter that they wrote to the Pope
to give him this information had been signed on the 13th of
August, 1558, but it bears the date of the 30th of August.
Laynex was ordered to deliver it, but he did not give it to the
Pope, "for good reasons," so says the decree," " Honestas ab causas;"
and the assembly was dissolved on the 10th of September.
In this congregation Laynez contrived to obtain a decision,
that Generals had a right to authorize all contracts, without any
common deliberation. "In praposito Generali cst iota auctoritas
celebramU quosvis contradus emptionnm ucnditionnm cl cessionum"
etc. He also obtained the right to give authority and authenticity
to the commentaries and declarations on the constitutions, and the
power to make rules and directories for the exercises of confession,
preaching, catechisms, and prayer; and the right to have
dungeons. In short, almost every power was conferred on the
General in this congregation, the first that had been held since
the death of St. Ignatius.
At the Council of Trent, Laynex (though he was the new
General of the most recently established order in the Church),
even while affecting to take the last place among the Heads of
Orders, intimated that he might with reason claim a higher seat.
He signalized himself by speeches detracting from Episcopal
authority, which scandalised the Cardinal de Lorriane and the
bishops, and embarrassed the Legates. He conducted himself
more as if he had been an officer of the Court of Rome than
as a theologian of the Church. These are ascertained facts,
attested both by Fra Paulo and by the Cardinal Pallavicini,
who palliates them. He had passed before that time an
apprenticeship in politics. He had penetrated into the court of
Charles the Fifth, and had intrigued to negociate the marriage of
the daughter of the king of Portugal with Philip the Second. He
had accompanied the new queen to Spain. He had refused to
establish colleges in Savoy without endowments, that being a
poor country, and not well cultivated ; but he established
colleges in Portugal.
33
It was Aquaviva who refused to sign the conditions which it
had been proposed to impose on the Jesuits, before they obtained
permission to return to France, although the Pope had approved
of them ; and it was for this reason, that they have never been
enforced. He prepared a rule of studies, with the assistance of
six doctors of the company, which was censured by the Inquisition
of Spain, who complained of the novelties he introduced into
theology. His despotic government occasioned murmurs in the
Society itself. The principal Jesuits of Spain complained of him,
and carried their complaints to Home. Aquaviva got the better
of them by his credit and dexterity. He it was who obtained
by subtlety from Gregory XIII. the permission to trade in the
Indies, under the pretext that it was advantageous to missions.
That Pope also granted to him an exclusive permission to send
missions to Japan. It was in his generalship that politico-
religious missions were sent to Paraguay. These are, perhaps, the
sources of the ideas of temporal grandeur in the Society and of the
, corruption of the spiritual views of the founder, already weakened
by Laynez. I therefore repeat that it is Laynez and Aquaviva,
who should be considered as the real founders of the Society, and
that it is their spirit which is substituted for the spirit of Ignatius,
and which has always governed the Jesuits.
This order, like most other religious orders, took its rise in
southern countries, and was formed by melancholy and excited
minds, and in the time of religious wars, which are either the
cause or the effect of enthusiasm or of fanaticism. It was esta-
blished with the most extravagant ultramontane views, and in the
barbarous spirit of the Inquisition. It was at first principally
composed of members born among the enemies of France ; Spain
fomented the League, and Popes favoured and fostered it.
The Jesuits owed their existence and their consideration to the
Pope, and they vowed to obey him. They were protected by the
Guises ; they were Leaguers by their principles and by their vows.
All the other orders were carried away by the torrent.
Morality at that time was much corrupted in the Church ; that
fact must be confessed. It is made evident, by the reproaches cast
on the Jesuits, that they established immorality, and by proofs,
D
34
which they collected to show that they only adopted what they
found already existing.
Their public studies were not admirable ; there reigned in their
schools the wildest casuistry ; they studied nothing but the logic
of Aristotle ; and they learnt nothing but mechanics.
It would be unjust to reproach men with the errors of their
nation and of their times ; it would be equally unjust if we im-
puted to children all the errors of their parents and of their pre-
cursors. We have no right to reproach the Jesuits of our own
time, if they have given up the principles of the Jesuits of the
time of the League. Have they abandoned those corrupt systems
of morals ? Do they now maintain and teach principles of loyalty
and submission to temporal sovereigns, and the inviolability of
their sacred persons? We shall presently examine these im-
portant points.
I am bound to tell you, Messieurs, what I think of the system
of the Jesuits, and of the foundation of their constitutions, of
which you have commanded me to give you an account. I think
I ought to declare, because I think I can prove it, that the
constitution of the Jesuits is fanaticism reduced to rules and
principles.
I must say that the foundation of the system, the means it
employs, the basis of its government, exterior and interior, can
only be regarded as fanaticism.
Mon. du Bellay, the Bishop of Paris, has said, that the Bulls
of the institution contain some things, which seem very strange
and contrary to reason, and which ought not to be tolerated in
any Christian system. *
It is a very great cause of prejudice against these constitutions
that they are extraordinary and without parallel in the world.
Another cause of mistrust is, as I have observed before, the
mystery that is made of the matter, and which is enjoined on
persons employed to execute their plans. But I must not limit
myself to mere statements. The more serious this accusation of
* Opinions of Mon. Eustaclie clu Bellay, Bishop of Paris in 1554, on the
Bulls obtained by the Jesuits.
35
fanaticism, the more it is incumbent on me to make it clear,
the more I am bound to prove it by facts.
And, in the first place, I declare that, so far from accusing the
whole order of Jesuits (that is to say, the members personally)
of fanaticism, I acquit them almost all, especially the French
Jesuits.
It would be altogether unjust to accuse individuals, and make
them responsible for vices in laws, which they do not enact; laws
to which they have submitted themselves without knowing that
those laws existed, and of which they are not to be informed until
it is almost impossible to throw off their yoke.
God defend me from accusing the members of a Christian
society, who personally profess Christianity, of having formed a
conspiracy to overthrow evangelical morality. I do not even
accuse the members individually of really believing the maxims,
which the books of the Society teach.
I do not believe that ecclesiastics, attached to Holy "Writ by
profession, attached to their country by ties of birth, can suddenly
forget those sentiments of Christianity, virtue, and humanity,
which are incompatible with fanaticism ; nor that, living in a
nation whose character is gentle, they can cast away the love,
Avhich is so natural in a Frenchman, of his country and his king.
All around them inspires other feelings.
It is not the Society of Jesuits, who have invented the prin-
ciples, from which fanaticism is derived in Europe. It arises from
false logic. Passive obedience to Popes, a contagion, which, toward
the end of the sixth century, infected this great country, and still
more, perhaps, the ambitious views of Aquaviva, and the despotism
and perpetuity of the generalship have caused these ideas to be
adopted.
I would willingly clear them, if I could, of holding principles
of false morality ; which indeed they have only adopted as prin-
ciples, and which they seem to deny by the regularity of their
conduct.
I impugn that spirit of part)-, which is as often hurtful as use-
ful ; that violence laid on liberty of consciences and minds, which
forces all, who wear the same uniform, to embrace the same
sentiments ; that out-and-out preference for the teachers of their
D 2
36
own order, which will not allow the members to differ from any
of their opinions.
I impugn superstition and ignorance ; an ambitious and despotic
system ; fanaticism, in short, which has caused, and still causes, so
many grievances in states, and from which we cannot boast of
being relieved.
Enthusiasm and fanaticism are the consequences of superstition
/and ignorance. Enthusiasm arises from a strong belief, heated by
a false zeal, and without any ground of conviction.
Imagination vividly excited and strongly attached to its object,
leaves no opening for examination or for discussion.
The enthusiast does not reason ; he sees all that he imagines ;
he has eager feelings and no clear ideas ; feeling serves him
instead of demonstration. On the subject of religion, from enthu-
siasm to fanaticism is but one step. The nature of fanaticism is
to attribute our own imaginations to Divine inspiration. To look
up to some man as to God ; to believe that his ordinances are
the expression of the will of Jesus Christ ; and thus to abandon
our own consciences and obey his orders blindly ; that is fanaticism.
Those illusions do not produce fatal effects every day ; but
there is no age and no country, in which this species of idolatry
has not occasioned trouble and desolation.
Nations cannot be too much aware of, and they are not suffi-
ciently on their guard against this delusive idea; it is always
ready to arise and give birth to the most tremendous evils.
In reading the annals of empires and of the Church during 500
years we may observe the introduction and growth of two princi-
ples, that have been either the cause or the consequence of the
fanaticism which has occasioned so much affliction in Europe.
These principles have arisen from a confusion in men's minds
(from ignorance or prejudice) as to the rights of two powers.
The immoderate ambition of Gregory VII. gave birth to the
revolting maxim of the power of the Church over temporal
interest. In order to support an authority so contrary to that
which Jesus Christ has given to the" Apostles and the Church, it
became necessary to imagine a quality inherent in the Popes, and
unheard of until that time — the prerogative of infallibility. And
as canonists had boldly asserted, that excommunication by Popes
37
deprived both individuals and kings of all temporal rights, there is
no extravagance to which that doctrine has not extended.
Thence have proceeded excommunications and interdicts on
kingdoms, unheard of sentences to deprive kings of their
dominions, which released subjects from their oaths of fidelity,
and excited those miserable fanatics, who have attempted the
lives of kings.
If fanaticism did not introduce these "principles, it was the
active agent, which ambition, either ecclesiastical or secular, em-
ployed to compass its ends by seducing ignorant and superstitious
persons. Ambition has been fanatical, and fanaticism has been
ambitious. The constitution of the Jesuits, and their system, is
derived from two sources, from which emanate their laws, privi-
leges, declarations, and statutes, — in a word, all that has with
them the force of law. The first is the absolute and sovereign
power of the Pope, both spiritual and temporal. And the second
principle is the communication by the Pope to the Society of the
Jesuits, in the person of their General, of absolute power for the
preservation and extension of the spiritual and temporal advantage
of their order.
These two principles are the basis and foundation of the whole
edifice of their Society. If the Pope does really possess temporal
power — well ; but if the Pope has no right to temporal power,
and therefore cannot give it — in that case they have no rights or
institution, or constitutions or privileges, nor has their General ;
for they have no laws but those given them by the Popes, or those
which the Popes have allowed the Generals to make for them.
Part of these principles are chimerical. If they are contrary to
reason, to religion, and to the rights of nations, if they are only
the offspring of fanaticism, then it must be allowed that the con-
stitutions of the Jesuits are inadmissible.
When I speak of constitutions, I include the Bulls which
authorised them, and also those of other rules, which they have
adopted, and which apply to both, as also the declarations and
ordinances of their Generals and the decrees of their general
congregations.
The first principle, (that of the absolute power of the Pope,
both in spiritual and temporal concerns) is innate in the Society of
38
the Jesuits. You have seen in the Bull, which authorised the
institution, the decision of the founder and of his companions, to
obey no one but the Pope, and to obey him without reserve. The
kind of obedience is explained in the constitutions, " Like that
ichich -is due to Jcsits Christ, giving up the whole understanding,
and persuading ourselves, that all that he orders is right." " Ad
fjus rocetit pcrinde ac si a Christo Domino egrederetur." (p. 407.)
And here I must observe, that it is this vow of absolute obedience
to the Pope, and the zeal that the Jesuits have shown to maintain
the ambitious views of Eome, which at that time, and in succeed-
ing ages, has made the fortune of the Society. They have con-
stantly declared at Rome their devotion to him only, and have exag-
gerated the disobedience of all those who attacked his infallibility.
All the first Jesuits embraced that opinion implicitly, and this
universal empire was the reigning opinion throughout the Church.
Yet that pretension to temporal power was too distasteful, and
too dangerous, to risk its declaration openly. Some, more prudent,
— I think, but I am not sure, that it was Salmeron, — endeavoured
to disguise it, and render it less odious, to facilitate its reception,
by stating that this power was •indirect ; but even if it should be
considered, that the right of the Pope and of the Church in
temporal concerns is indirect, it is no less likely to be pernicious
both to the State and to the Church, and to occasion troubles and
seditions than the chimera of direct power over kings.
However that may be, since that time there has not existed
anywhere (excepting in France) one single Jesuit, who has aban-
doned voluntarily in writing the absurd system of the infallibility
of the Pope. And they have also added another error, as a
necessary consequence of this, that excommunication properly
deprives men of all their temporal rights. Let this be allowed,
and we have the key to the policy of the Jesuits, and the purpose
of their constitutions. To prove that they do make these claims,
it is only necessary to read their works.
We will begin with Salmeron, who was a companion of Saint
Ignatius, and one of the nine, who presented themselves with him
to Pope Paul III. in 1540.
Salmeron writes : — " A king, on receiving Baptism, and in re-
" nouncing Satan and all his works, promises tacitly never to abuse
39
"his royal power by acting against the Church ; he is understood
" to consent to be deprived of his kingdom, if he acts otherwise ;
" and in fact does not a king render himself unworthy of Baptism
" and the Holy Eucharist, if he refuses to use his power for the
" good of the Church and the destruction of heretics ?" (p. 251.)
" It is a divine law, that Christians cannot elect a king, who is
f not a Christian. How ? Can the spiritual power be less in the
" Church than it was in the synagogue, so that the Church cannot
" make a king as she thinks fit, and as she chooses ?" (p. 251,
253.)
" All the power, that priests possessed figuratively in the old
" law, priests possess more amply in the reality of the New Testa-
ment, over the persons of kings and over their possessions. At
" the present time the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Saint
"Peter, may, for the good of his flock, when he cannot use any
" other remedy, ly a word take away corporeal life, provided, that
" he does it by word of mouth, and not by the outward action of
" his hand. He may even make war on heretics and 011 schis-
" matics, and cause their death by the means of Catholic princes :
" for Jesus Christ in commanding him to feed his sheep, gave him
"power to drive away the wolves and to kill them, if they hurt his
" flock ; and moreover, if the leader of his flock should injure his
" other sheep, by communicating a contagious disease to them, or
" by striking them with his horns, the shepherd may depose him
" and take from him his principality, and the government of his
"flock. In. temporal things God has only given to St. Peter and
" his successors an indirect dominion over temporal kingdoms and
" over all the empires in the world. In virtue of that dominion
" he might (if the glory of Jesus Christ and the advantage of the
" Church demanded it) change them, transfer them, and make them
"pass into other hands."
Bellarmine says : — " We maintain that the Pope for the sake of
" spiritual good, has a sovereign power to dispose of temporal
" o-ood to all Christians. Spiritual power does not interfere
" in temporal affairs, and lets them follow their course, provided
" that they do not interfere with spiritual intentions or spiritual
" ends ; or that they do not become necessary for their achieve-
" ment ; but if that should happen, the spiritual power can and
40
" ought fo constrain the temporal poiccr by all the mean* which it
" may think necessary. The Pope tlien may change empire*, take
" the crown, from one to gice it to another, an being the sovereign,
" spiritual prince, if he judges that necessary for the salvation of
" souls.
" If Christians in other days did not depose Nero, and Dioclc-
" sian, and Julian the Apostate, and Valens, who was an Arian,
" it was only because they were unable to do so ; for they had
" the right.
" When the temporal obedience, which you pay to a king," (it
is the Pope whom Bellarmine supposes to speak in these terms)
" endangers your eternal salvation, then I am completely superior
" to //our king, even in temporal things ; you arc the sheep of my
" flock, and your kings are its leaders; and as your kings remain
"sheep I permit them to govern you and lead you ; but if they
"become wolves instead of sheep, am I to allow my Master's
" flock to be ruled by wolves ? You must not acknowledge as
" kings, those who lead you away from the path of life, either by
" menaces or by caresses, or any other means — those, wrhoni I
"have condemned to be banished from the company of just men,
" and to be deprived of their sovereignty ; but you must render
" to their successors, whom I have chosen, the obedience due to
" kings. Take care not to be deceived and to acknowledge as
" your prince, him who, in fact, is no longer cither a prince or
" your king."
Molina writes : — " The spiritual power of the Pope for super-
" natural purposes, comprehends, dependent on those causes, the
"most ample and extensive powers of temporal jurisdiction over all
"princes, and over all the faithful in the Church, precisely as
" often as this is requisite for the supernatural purposes, for
" which the spiritual power is established ; for this reason, if the
" supernatural object requires it, the Pope may depose kings and
" deprice them of their kingdoms. He may also decide the differ-
"ences, that arise between princes concerning temporal matters :
" he may reverse their laws, and supersede their edicts. And it
" is not only by censures, that he may oblige compliance with his
" commands ; but by pains and penalties, and by force of arms,
" like secular princes ; though in general it is found more suitable,
41
" that the Pope should not make war himself; but that ho should
" use outward force by means of secular princes, (p. 67.)
•'For these reasons the Pope is recognized as the possessor of
" two swords — one spiritual, and the other temporal. Most cer-
" tainly Jesus Christ would not have sufficiently provided for the
" maintenance of His church, if He had not made all Christian
" secular princes subject to the Pope, and given the sovereign
" pontiff ample power to oblige and constrain them to do what-
" ever, he deemed necessary, for supernatural objects.
" The Pope may depose kings if the preservation of the faith
" of tlie Church, or the spiritual good of the public requires it,"
etc.
" If a prince should become a heretic or a schismatic, ' the
" Pope may -use the temporal stcord against him ;' and further-
" more, 'he may depose him, and drive him from his kingdom ;'
"moreover, ' If Christian kings are disputing for any sovereignty,'
" or any other temporal interest whatsoever, and making war on
" that account, and there seems reason to fear, that the dispute
" may do injury to the Church or spiritual power, either because
" the enemies of the faith may make such war a pretence to rob
" the Church, or that it may occasion spiritual crimes and other
" evils, which a war among Christians generally produces, ' then the
"Pope,' to prevent those evils, 'may decide the difference and pro-
" nouncc sentence without their consent ; and they, whether with their
"consent or against it, must submit to his decision.' If the Pope
" tloes not interfere, it is not because he has not the divine right
" to do so ; but because he dares not use it, lest they should act
" against the Holy See, and occasion still greater inconveniences."
Suarez says : — " ' The Pope has a power coactice and coercive
" over kings, even to the extent of depriving them of their thrones,'
" if there is cause for it.
" We have shown in the third book, Chap. 23rd., No. 10, that
"the power of the Pope may extend itself to coerce kings, even
" by temporal penalties and the privation of their kingdoms, ' if
"it is necessary.' 'This power is more essentially necessary in
" the Church -with respect to kings, in order to govern them, than in
" respect to subjects.'
" A shepherd has not only the power to punish his erring flock,
42
" to recall them to his fold ; but to drive away the wolves, and dc-
" fend his fold lest his sheep should be forced out of it and killed.
" Then the Pope, as sovereign shepherd, nun/ depricc any prince
" of his dominions, and banish him for fear that he should injure
" his subjects. He may release their subjects from their oath of
"fidelity, or declare that they need not take such oath ; for this
" condition is always supposed in such oaths.
" For that purpose he may make use of the swords of other
" princes ; thus the secular sword is subjected to the spiritual
" sword, that they may assist each other to protect and defend the
" Church.
"It is permitted to an individual to kill a tyrant in virtue of the
"right of self-defence ; for though the community docs not command
" it, it is always to be understood, that it wishes to be defended by
"every one of its citizens individually, and even by a stranger.
"Then, if no defence can be found excepting the death of the
" tyrant, it is permitted to every man to kill him.
" Wlicncver a king has been legitimately deposed, he ceases to be a
" king or a legitimate, prince, and that can no longer be affirmed of
"him, which may be said for a legitimate king: he thenceforth
"should be called a tyrant. Thus, after he has been declared to be
"deprived of his kingdom, it becomes legal to treat him as a real
" tyrant ; and consequently any man has a right to hill him.
Mariana writes: — "He (Jaques Clement,) suffered joyfully
" blows and mortal wounds, because by the loss of life he gave
" liberty to his country and the nation. Murder was e.rpiated by
" murder, and the manes of the Due dc Guise, unjustly killed, were
"avenged by the effusion of royal blood.
" He (Jacques Clement) did a really noble, admirable, memorable
"action by which he taught earthly princes that their
" impious enterprises never remain unpunished. Ecery individual
"has the same power (i.e., that of declaring the sovereign a public
"enemy, and consequently of killing him by the sword), 'if he
" has the courage,' (i.e., to undertake to assist the republic at
" the risk of his own life without hope of escaping from capital
" punishment).
"It would be very advantageous" (for men) "if many men could
"be found, who by the sacrifice of their own lives, would undertake
43
"so courageous an action for the liberty of their country ; but most
" men are deterred by a disordered care for their own preservation,
" u-hich renders him incapable of great enterprises ; tlience it is
" so few of the tyrants we read of in former ages, have suffered
" violent deaths by the hands of their subjects. Nevertheless, it is
" well that princes should know, that, if the)' oppress their people,
" and render themselves insupportable by their vices and mis-
" doings, they live on the condition, that not only they may bo
" killed righteously and justly ; but that it is a 'praiseworthy and
"glorious action to kill them.'
" No one doubts that a ' tyrant may be killed overtly by force
" of arms,' either by attacking him in his palace, in giving battle
" to him, or even by deceit and ambush.
" It is true, it is more magnanimous and generous to declare
" your hatred, and to assail the enemy of the state openly ;
" but it is no less laudable to seize some favourable occasion, and
" to use deceit and ambuscades in order to perform the act with-
" out occasioning much agitation, and with less peril, both to the
" public and to individuals."
I am sure that you are as much wearied and disgusted by
listening to these recitals, as I am in making them. Can it be
true that such things have issued from the minds of men, who
ought to have been upholders of knowledge and of the law ?
If there is any incontestable maxim on the rights of nations, it
is that laid down by the illustrious Bossuet, in his defence of the
declaration of the clergy of France in 1682, thai-all sovereign
power is sufficient to itself ! and is provided by God with all the
power that is necessary for its own preservation ; and that no
other power on earth ought to intrude itself into its administration,
otherwise than by good offices, or according to treaties and con-
ventions.
It is also an incontrovertible maxim, that neither the Pope nor
the Church itself has any right in temporal matters. To con-
tradict either of these principles is degrading to sovereignty ; and
delivering kings into the hands of furious enthusiasm and fana-
ticism.
What disorders the idea of the temporal power of the Church
44
has occasioned ! It has cruised the death ofpisabably ten millions
of men in 400 years.
Let us see what the Abbe de Fleury has said on this subject,
in his fifth discourse. I will quote the whole of the passage ; it
may serve as a counterpoise to what I have just related to you: —
" The most pernicious use of allegories is, to lay them down as
" principles, and then to draw consequences from them contrary
" to the sense of Scripture, and to establish new dogmas upon
" them. Such is the celebrated allegory of the two swords.
" Jesus Christ after His Passion told His disciples they must
" have swords (to fulfil the prophecy, which said that He would
"be numbered with the wicked.) They said, 'Here are two
" swords," and He answered, ' It is enough.' The literal sense is
" evident. But the lovers of allegories have chosen to say, that
"these two swords (which were both of them real material
" swords) signified two powers, by which the world is governed,
" the spiritual and the temporal sword ; that Jesus Christ said,
" ' It is enough — not too much.' This, say they, shows that these
" were sufficient, but that both are necessary ; that those two
" powers belong to the Church, because both those swords were
" in the hands of the apostles ; but that the Church should only
"use the spiritual sword herself, and that the temporal sword
" should be used only by those princes to whom the Church shall
" grant its exercise ; that this is the reason why Jesus Christ said
" to St. Peter, ' Put up thy sword into its sheath,' as if He meant
" to say, " That sword is yours, but you must not use it with your
" own hand. Princes must use it under your order, and under
" your direction.'
" Now I ask any sensible man, if this explanation is anything
"more than a,jeu d' esprit, and whether any serious principle can
" be founded upon it ?
" I say the same of the two luminaries, which they have also
" applied to these two powers ; saying that the great luminary is
" the Church, which, like the sun, enlightens by its own light ; and
" empire or sovereignty is the lesser light, which, like the moon,
" has only a reflected or borrowed light.
" If people will rely on fanciful applications of the words of
" Scripture, and draw important consequences from them, one may
45
" reply by simply denying those consequences, and say that those
" passages are historical, and that we cannot derive any mysterious
" meaning from them beyond their natural import ; and that the
" two luminaries are. the sun and the moon, and we know no
"more than that. Nevertheless these two allegorical conclusions
" are the main arguments used by all, who since the days of
"Gregory VII. have attributed to the Church authority over
"sovereigns in temporal affairs, in direct contradiction to plain
" texts of Scripture, which are supported by tradition ; for Jesus
" Christ said simply, without figure of speech or parable, ' My
" kingdom is not of this world ; ' and in another place He said
" speaking to His apostles, ' Ye know that the princes of the
" Gentiles exercise dominion over them ; and they that are
"great exercise authority upon them; but it shall not be so
" among you.'
" There is no wit or reasoning, that can elude so distinct a corn-
" inand. Moreover, during the first seven or eight centuries it was
" understood literally, without the supposition of any mysterious
" interpretation. You have seen how all the ancients, St. Gelatius
" among them, distinguished clearly two separate powers ; and
" what is more important, you have seen, that in practice they
" acted on that doctrine, and that bishops, and even Popes, sub-
" mitted in worldly matters to kings and emperors, even when
" they were pagans and heretics.
" The first author, in whose work I can find the allegory of the
" two swords, is Geoffrey do Yendome, in the beginning of the 12th
"century. John of Salisbury went so far as to say, that the
"prince having received the sword from the hand of the Church,
" the Church has of course the power to take it again away from
" him ! and he teaches elsewhere, that it is not only permitted,
" but laudable to kill tyrants. The object of his teaching is
"obvious. Most of the doctors, however, of that age, asserted
" the doctrine of the allegory of the swords ; and what is more
" surprising, the princes themselves, and those who defended them
" against the Popes, did not reject the doctrine. They contented
" themselves by limiting the consequences. This was occasioned
" by the total ignorance of the laity, which rendered them slaves
" to the clergy in everything concerning letters and doctrine.
46
" Now these clergy had all studied together in the same schools,
" and had imbibed the same doctrines, and from the same books ;
" and in consequence we find, that the defenders of Henry IV.
" against Pope Gregory VII. all agreed in saying, that he must
" not run the risk of being excommunicated, for if he was, he
" would lose the right to reign. Frederick II. submitted himself
" to the judgment of the Universal Council, and confessed, that if
" he was proved guilty of the crimes, imputed to him, particularly
" of heresy, he deserved to be deposed.
" The Council of St. Louis knew no better than those men, and
" resolved to abandon Frederick, if he was found guilty ; so
" powerful is the effect of teaching.
" From one false principle widely diffused, a thousand disas-
" trqus consequences ensue, when it comes to be put in practice !
" as in the instance of the supposed temporal rights of the Church.
" Since that principle was admitted, the internal inspiration of the
"Church has changed."
It is generally allowed that the principles of the Jesuit authors,
whom I have quoted, are fanatical, and that they have produced
bad effects. But, it is said, these books have long lain unattended
to in the libraries, from which they have lately been taken. It is
said that Rome has forgotten these maxims, and that the Church
is far from wishing to put them in practice. Careless and timid
men now assert, that to speak of them is to revive alarms, which
are past, to renew extinguished quarrels, and to interrupt the good
understanding, that exists between Rome and all the Christian
princes. That is exactly what the Jesuit Richomc said in 1C03,
in his apologetic complaint to Henry IV.
I am far from seeking to find errors, much less crimes, where
they do not exist, or from wishing to disturb concord between
Rome and princes. That concord must be the first wish of every
Frenchman, and every child of the Church; but I must ask,
from whence it is concluded that Rome has abandoned the doc-
trines of Sixtus V. and Gregory XIV ? Is it from the decisions
of Paul V., of Innocent X., and Alexander VII., against the
oath of England; or from the condemnation by Alexander
VIII. of the four articles of the Assembly of the Clergy (of
France) in 1682 ? Is it from the affirmation of the Legend of
47
Gregory VII., coined in our own days by Clement XI. and
Benedict XIII ?
The books we have cited arc those of the most learned and
most talented theologians of the Society of Jesuits — those, that
the Jesuit Beatrix, rector of the College of Rouen, in his Chrono-
logical Tables, printed 1644, placed in the rank of fathers of
the Church. They drew all their theology from those sources ;
they write 110 new books, but they make new editions of those
old ones.
Where can we find any abjuration of those opinions recorded
by the Society ? Is it in the theses, which Jesuits have held in
several schools of this kingdom ? Is it in the multiplied editions
of Busembaum,* and above all, in the edition, which was printed
in France in 1729, with the Commentaries of La Croix, a Jesuit ?
Is it in the Journal de Trevoux of that same year, which lavishes~vX
on that book the highest praises ? or is it in the reprint, in 1757,
of that detestable book, published under what circumstances ? Is
it in the apologies, made for it during the mission to Nantes by
the Jesuit Dessulpont, who only a few months afterwards bad to
disavow it before this tribunal ? Is it in the works of the Jesuit
Zacharias, who wrote in 1758, in support of that execrable work,
and to attack the decisions, which had proscribed it?
Here is a question of facts. Will any one undertake to efface
from the memory of men facts which are stereotyped in history,
arid make us forget these recent facts, which have passed under
our own eyes ?
I think that Popes of this day have neither the wish, nor any
occasion to assert ambitious pretensions in opposition to any king,
but this is rather a pious presumption on my part, than a demon-
strated fact ; and one can hardly expect princes to be satisfied
with felicitous presumptions, and make no better provision for
their own safety.
If this species of fanaticism, derived from the system of the
infallibility of the Pope, and his right to rule temporalities, is
diminished in France, we owe it to our parliaments, who have
* The work of Liguori, which has been recently approved by the Pope,
and which was authoritatively recommended by Cardinal Wiseman, is a
paraphrase of Busemltatuu's work. — Editor.
48
preserved their sacred charge of the liberties of the nation, and to
the Sorbonnc, to the body of French clergy, who made the cele-
brated declaration of 1682, and to the edict which Louis XIV.
issued in consequence.
The second fundamental principle of the constitution of the
Jesuits is, that the Pope, as the rightful sovereign over all things,
both spiritual and temporal, has communicated his absolute
power to the Society of Jesuits in the person of their General, for
the preservation and propagation of the spiritual and temporal
good of the Society.
This fanatical principle is as absurd as that from which they
attempt to deduce it.
They say, a sovereign who may do anything he pleases, has
given to the General all the power he had for the advancement
of the Society. When he has given away his power, the gift is
complete and irrevocable. If the giver should repent, it is too
late ; his power is gone, and the general has only to keep it
without the help of the Pope, and in spite of him.
But now, if one could believe, that Christ had given sovereign
power to the Pope, does it follow, that such power is transferable,
or that any Pope having it, could give it away and deprive his
successors of it ?
Men accept gifts generally without questioning the authority
and competence of the donor. Perhaps the Jesuits have never
considered, whether the Popes could confer on a religious order
the power to create rights for themselves, prerogatives and
privileges above, and adverse to, all other, and even to the injury
of the Pope himself; for all that is given away from others is
valid, according to their constitutions ; and nothing, which is
granted to others, is valid against them.
I have said that the constitutions of the Jesuits are founded on
; two principles ; the absolute power of the Pope, and his comniu-
i nication of an absolute power to the Society. You will see, that
the system of the Society and its government, both interior and
exterior, and the particular regulations of the constitutions, flow
naturally from those two principles, i.e., that the Pope has
absolute power, and that he has communicated it to the Society.
All that concerns kings and princes, their persons, their autho-
49
rity, the episcopate, curates, universities, companies, both secular
and regular, are derived from the first.
The second compi-ehends the authority of the General, both
interior and exterior, the means that he has a right to employ, the
institution and the education of members of the Society, that of
youths confided to its care, the laws and rules of morality of dis-
cipline, and of police, of which the Society makes use.
Generally these two principles are united, and seek the same
object; sometimes one of these powers is sufficient to provide
for the preservation and the extension of the Society. Sometimes
these two sovereign authorities find themselves at variance. We
have seen what may happen by the shock of these two powers.
I do not attempt to report the laws of the institution in detail.
In attempting it I could only repeat what has already been said
more than once. I show the principles, and consider the spirit
of the institution ; and it will be seen that particular facts unite
themselves with these naturally.
I will show, when I come to discuss the murderous doctrines
respecting kings, how that depends on the first principle. I will
now proceed to that which affects the authority of govern-
ments. We need not ask the Jesuits, why they did not present
their constitutions, their laws, and the Bulls confirming the consti-
tutions and their privileges, to the sovereigns, in whose dominions
they establish themselves. It was because the Pope had
authorized them, and they believed that, as the Pope had a power
direct or indirect over princes, all Catholic sovereigns were obliged !
to receive them in their dominions, and that it was their duty to '
give them the full enjoyment of all the privileges and prerogatives
that they had obtained ; that princes could not do otherwise,
without failing in the respect they owed to the visible head of the
Church, and without incurring the anger of God and the Apostles
St. Peter and St. Paul. So run the Bulls.
The following is not a conjecture. Gregory XI V., in a Bull
confirmative of the institution of the Jesuits given in 1591, on the
petition of their General, Aquaviva says, that no one, excepting
the sovereign Pontiff, shall meddle with the religious Orders,
approved of by the Holy See, and forbids any person, whatever
his authority, whether regular or secular, to attempt it. Paul III.
E
50
had granted to the Jesuits leave to build and acquire property in
every part of the Avorld without the consent of any power, either
ecclesiastical or secular. (Privileg. p. 17.) It is on the same
principle of the sovereignty of Popes over the temporal concerns
of all Christian kings, that the Society, its members and its pos-
sessions, are declared to have passed into the possession of St.
Peter, and to belong to the Holy Apostolic See.
Their persons and their possessions are exempted from all taxes,
tithes, impositions, gabels (the excise on salt), taillas (succession
duties), dons, (forced gifts), collections (levies), subsidies, even
for the most commendable purposes, as for the defence of the
country. No kings, princes, dukes, marquises, barons, soldiers,
nobles, laymen, corporations, magistrates, commanders of towns
or fortresses, shall dare to impose these.
It was not enough that the persons and the possessions of the
Society should be freed from all jurisdiction ; they thought fit to
create judges to preserve their privileges, and to endow these with
the necessary power to prevent any encroachment upon them.
Popes have given them these " Conservators " in all countries;
or rather, they have enabled the Jesuits to appoint and choose
them for themselves.
That privilege is the acme of madness of fanaticism.
A Conservator, provided that he has any ecclesiastical dignity,
or a canonry, may act as an ordinary judge for the Jesuits, " Judex
Ordinarim" He may judge without any judicial formality : it
is forbidden to any one to give a contradictory judgment, and if
given, it is null and void.
The Bulls grant to this Conservator all power, even over tem-
poral affairs and secular persons. He may inflict pecuniary
penalties, and even lay interdicts on places to which enemies of
the Society retire. He may repress all constituted authorities,
whether secular or ecclesiastical, whatever they may be, even
pontiffs or kings, who may molest the Society and disturb them
in their possessions, their privileges, or their reputation openly,
or privately, directly or indirectly, secretly or otherwise, on any
pretence whatsoever.
The Jesuits may summon before their Judge-conservators all
sorts of persons, either ecclesiastics or laymen, when it is a
51
question of manifest injury or violence against the properties,
privileges, or members of the Society personally. It is sufficient
for this, that the injury should be manifest by the evidence
of fact, or it may be taken as proved, so there is no need of
judicial investigation.
The Jesuits, to complete their wild pretensions, were not
satisfied, that the Conservators should be chosen by themselves ;
they insisted over and above this, that they should be able to
change them at their pleasure ; and their privilege is recorded, that
the Society may have a cause decided by one Conservator, which
has been commenced by another, even when there is nothing to
prevent the first judge from going on with it.
I must observe in regard to these pretended Judge-conser-
vators, and the power given to them to punish by legal means,
and by violent measures, that in the first Bulls obtained by
the Jesuits for the establishment of these judges, legal means
only were mentioned ; and that it was in a Bull issued in 1571,
that the permission to use violence was added ; an addition
which is by no means in accordance with the usual style of those
writings ; it is added on purpose. And, I ask, for what purpose
could such a clause be added? I see no proofs of the actual
existence of such Judge-conservators in France, nor of any judg-
ments passed by them. Their formal establishment would have
been a direct attack on the sovereignty and laws of the State, and
it would be almost impossible to obtain proofs of judgments given
without any of the formalities of justice, by certain pretended
and unknown judges, who have never taken legal oaths before
any judicial tribunal, who are nowhere publicly registered, and
who act in secret.
We find, however, in the reports on the affair of the Bishop
of Pamiers, the Ordinance which that bishop issued against the
Jesuits, forbidding them to hear confessions, and the Act in which
they signified on the 24th of December, 1667, to his promoter,
that if he persisted in such attempts, vexations, and molesta-
tions against the Society, they would carry their complaints to the
Pope for justice, or to the Judge-conservators, as was customary
and reasonable.
The Popes, acting on their pretended right of sovereignty over
E 2
temporal affairs, have allowed the Society to create notaries for all
their affairs, and have given the General the right to elevate the
Jesuits into public officers, that they may be placed in a position
to inform all persons, both secular and ecclesiastical, all and every
one, of the privileges of the Society. And the acts of these Jesuit
notaries must have full credence even in courts of justice. Some
Bulls have made a civil law for the Jesuits with regard to
statutes of limitation, which these Bulls prolong to sixty years ;
even with regard to possessions, which would otherwise be limited
to a shorter perid of time.
They have established special forms of procedure for the affairs
of the Society, and subjected secular judges to those forms. They
have exempted the Jesuits from the laws with regard to damages
altogether, when they commit injury, even when it is the fault of
their superiors ; an arrangement, which tends to render their obli-
gations illusory whenever their interest makes them think, that
they are injured.
I add one important point concerning the General only, which
interests civil society, — that of contracts and legacies.
The General only, as has been already stated, has the power of
making contracts. "Penes generalem omnisfacultas agendi quosvis
contractus." " Lcs contrah ne peuvent etre faits que suivant la
coutume et les privileges de la Societe." Contracts can only be
made according to the custom and privileges of the Society. And
declarations exist, which prevent these engagements from binding
the Society, although the other contracting party is bound by them.
One of these articles enacts, that, though the General may have
conceded powers to the superiors of religious houses and also to
inferiors, he may yet confirm or negative their agreements as he
pleases, and order anything he thinks fit.
He may alter the destination of legacies, left to colleges or
houses, and apply them to any other purpose, provided that it can
be done without creating scandal to persons interested.
The laws and constitutions of the society having overridden the
rights of sovereigns, we need not ask, why they pay no regard
either to episcopal jurisdiction or to rights of incumbents, nor to
the rights of universities, nor to those of other religious orders ;
on the ground, that the Pope having sovereign spiritual power,
53
could of .course rule, as he chose, and order everything he thought
useful or necessary, without troubling himself about the rights of
bishops, who are only his delegates, and have no jurisdiction, but
that which he gives them ; because the Pope may despise the
rights of incumbents, and of universities and of all religious orders ;
and because, being above law and canons, he may dispense with,
all canons, and being superior to the General Council, he may
negative their regulations. By the Bull of Paul III. 1549, the
Society and its members are declared exempt and free from all
superiority, jurisdiction, and correction of the ordinaries. No
bishop can excommunicate a Jesuit, or suspend him or interdict
him. This privilege extends to all their out-of-door servants and
workmen.
Any Jesuit chosen by the General has the right to preach
everywhere, to hear the confessions of all the faithful, to absolve
them from all sins, even in the cases reserved for the Holy See, and
from censures. It is enjoined on all ordinaries to facilitate their
full exercise of these privileges. By a Bull cited among their
privileges, bishops cannot prevent Jesuits from administering the
sacrament of penance, from Palm Sunday to the first Sunday after
Whitsuntide. And they must allow Jesuits, who are priests, to
perform this function throughout their dioceses generally, and
without distinction or limitation of time, place, or persons.
Bishops cannot interdict an establishment of Jesuits without
consulting the Holy See, nor even any individual Jesuit, (to whom
they had previously given permission, without limiting the period
of that permission) nor oblige him to be subjected to a fresh ex-
amination, unless some new cause has occurred belonging to the
confession itself. Bishops cannot prevent Jesuits from preaching
in churches which belong to their Society. Every believer, who
goes to mass, to a sermon, or to vespers in the churches, belonging
to the Society, is understood to have fulfilled all his parish duties
and all the offices of the Church.
The General has a right to summon congregations of all sorts
and kinds in his houses, to distribute and create indulgences for
those congregations, to make any statutes he pleases, and to
change them at his will in such sort, that it is to be understood, that
all is done with the approbation of the Holy See. Bishops have
54
no right, according to the Bulls, to visit their houses, nor to in-
terfere in their administration, unless in exceptional cases.
Several of the Bulls diminish the authority of councils, whether
General or Provincial Councils. There is noted in the Compen-
dium, p. 285, that privileges granted since the Council of Trent,
are valid, although they are contradictory to that council.
It is forhidden to appeal from the ordinances of this society,
and to all judges to receive such appeals.
Every college of Jesuits is erected into a university, and the
superior or prefect is authorised to confer degrees on strangers as
well as on Jesuits, with all the privileges of graduates in the
universities. All universities and persons opposing this rule, are
\ to lose their own privileges, and rights, and are to be cited
hefore the Conservator, and excommunicated. Jesuit pupils must
not graduate in the universities on account of the oaths taken
there.
Magistrates must execute the will of the rector, and protect the
persons he recommends.
The Jesuits, fearing that the privileges, of which I have made
a short enumeration, would not be enough, obtained in one single
Bull from Pope Pius V., all the privileges, past, present, or
future, which all the Mendicants of all habits, and both sexes,
have ever obtained, or that ever hereafter they may obtain ; all
the prerogatives, which may have been granted to them, how
many soever they may be, even those especially notified. All
the immunities, exemptions, faculties, concessions, privileges,
spiritual and temporal graces, that may be given in future to
their congregations, convents, chapters, to their monks or nuns,
to their monasteries, houses, hospitals, and other places, are
granted to the Jesuits, ipso facto, without further particular con-
cession.
By this Bull the Pope ties his own hands, and the hands of all
his successors, by forbidding, that any of these privileges should
ever be retracted. For if they were, the General of the Society
might restore those rights to himself, or to the Society, as they
existed at any date he may choose for such restitution.
What a mass of abuses heaped one over the other ! or rather,
what extravagant nonsense !
55
Violations of the right of all nations and of all civil society,
attempts on the jurisdictions of all the sovereigns of the whole
world, and pains pronounced on their sacred persons — what an
abuse of ecclesiastical authority ! A spiritual ruler, who has
received only spiritual authority from Jesus Christ, takes the
command in all temporal concerns over all Christendom, as if it
was his territory !
Can one hear those things without shuddering at such a source
of fanaticism ? or rather, is it not fanaticism itself ? Was I
wrong when I stated to you that the constitutions of the Jesuits,
their systems and laws, declarations and decrees, are fanaticism
reduced to rule and principle ?
I will not give any further details of the abuses which result
from these privileges ; it is but too evident that they directly
attack common law, the laws of the kingdom, the liberties of
the Gallican Church, the canons of the universal Church, the
rights of bishops, and those of incumbents ; the prerogatives of
universities, and of all other religious orders ; in one word, all
societies, both political and religious. You see that all these evils
are derived from the fatal maxim of the absolute power of the
Pope in all things both spiritual and temporal.
The Society of the Jesuits will say, perhaps, that other religious
orders have obtained exorbitant power ; and that, moreover, the
Jesuits have never used (in France) the greater part of those
powers which seem so odious.
I wish it was possible to judge of the constitutions of the Jesuits
as leniently as of other collections of monastic laws ; and I own,
that was my first idea when I began this examination. There are
vices and abuses in several of the laws of other religious orders ;
I learnt that in the compendium of the privileges, which the
Jesuit Society only cites in order to adopt them.
But I have been obliged to abandon a comparison, which at
first sight seemed equitable, but which cannot be sustained. It
is plain, that having concentrated in their order all the preroga-
tives of all the other orders, they have adopted all the vices with
them, that can be found in all the other constitutions ; so that
the fruit of their ambition has been to find themselves burdened
56
in relation to the State, with all the abuses incident to all the
other orders together.
Besides, if the laws of other orders are vicious, those vices are
abuses which should be reformed; not examples to be imitated.
They say that they do not intend to make use of most of their
privileges in France. They are men who wish to enjoy the rights
of citizens, without being citizens ; who ask and obtain exorbitant
privileges from a power, which they hold to be superior to all other
powers, and then choose among those privileges which of them
they like to make use of, and which to lay by. And is the State
to wait patiently to see what these men are going to be pleased to
do, while they think themselves very moderate in not vigorously
using all these rights which they ostentatiously display ? Mean-
time, in the editions they publish of their rights and powers for
the edification of all the houses of their Society, without deigning
to make mention of any respect due to the laws of the sovereign
of their country, they graciously consent not to make use of these
privileges where they find obstacles ; but never have they re-
nounced the principle, from which their pretensions are derived ;
and that is the direct or indirect power of the Pope over the
temporal power of kings.
One fact will answer all the protestations of submission which
the Jesuits made to the conditions, imposed on their recall to
France, and to all their pretended renunciations of the privileges
with which they were reproached.
In 1593 and 1594, the Jesuits of Spain and Portugal com-
plained of the government of Aquaviva, and demanded a reforma-
tion of the Society. They were backed by the courts of Spain and
Portugal, and had carried their complaints to the Pope.
It was against them that Aquaviva called the Fifth Congrega-
tion. There they were treated as prevaricating children, seducers,
disturbers of peace ; who under the cloak of zeal and public good,
dared to prefer their own views to the opinions of the whole
Society. It was ordered that they should be punished and banished,
and that all others, who were suspected of similar machinations
should be obliged to swear humbly to all the constitutions and
decrees of the general congregations, and all the Bulls of sovereign
pontiffs which confirm or explain the constitution, expressly those
57
of Julius III., Gregory XIII., and Gregory XIV., that they
would never act in any way contrary to them under any pretence
whatsoever ; and that they would never allow any alteration to
be made in the constitution of the Society, but would at all times
be ready to defend them at the price of their blood.
In 1603, they were recalled to France. Every one knows the
conditions on which they were allowed to return. It is on those
conditions, that they now boast of their voluntary resignation
of all the exorbitant contents of the Bulls of Julius III., and
Gregory XIY.
The conditions of their recall were not ratified by Aquaviva,
although the Pope had approved of them. An essential formality
according to their constitution, to render the renunciations valid
was withheld; and therefore the General might enforce the
observance of those Bulls on any occasion and at any time
he pleased.
But what put an end to all doubt on that point was, that three
years after their recall to France in 1606, Aquaviva presented a
supplication to the Pope (Paul V.), and obtained another Bull
from him, authorising the decree of the Fifth General Congrega-
tion, of which I have already spoken, in which they declared, that
they would never allow of any alteration of the institutions on
any pretext whatsoever, nor of any derogation from the privileges
granted to the Society by the Bulls of Pope Julius III., Pope
Gregory XIII., and Pope Gregory XIV.
Aquaviva, in the general congregation, which was held on the
21st of February, 1608, that is to say, five years after their recall
to France (a congregation at which the deputies of France
assisted), then caused the decree of the Fifth Congregation, which
had been confirmed by the Bull of Paul V., to be renewed ; and
he induced them to declare, secondly, that the decree of that
Fifth Congregation ought to be so extended as to include all the
members of the Society.
What conclusions could the Jesuits draw from renunciations
which, according to their maxims, must be void : not only because
they had never been ratified by their General, but against which
he had appealed, and which he had persuaded the Pope to annul
by his supplication to Paul V., and by the Bull issued in con-
58
sequence three years after their recall on conditions, against
which he formally protested, in the Sixth General Congregation
held in 1608, five years after their recall ?
Will they say, that notwithstanding the obstinacy of their
General and the Bull of Paul V., they still think themselves
bound to fulfil the conditions? And will they dare to pretend
that they have fulfilled them in regard to bishops? And will
they dare to give the lie formally to the memorials of the clergy
of France ? (See the circular letter of the assembly of clergy in
1650, and the Proces Verbaux, vol v. of Memorials.)
We know, moreover, that one of the principles of their con-
stitutions is, That if anything has been effected by any person
whomsoever, of whatever rank or condition, prejudicial to the
rights and privileges of the Society, the act is nil in itself, and it
is not necessary to obtain any formal withdrawal.
I see in many parts of the Compendium, that they make a dis-
tinction between the public and the private use of their privileges.
They are warned not to use their privilege, which is good for the
interior, excepting when they find no impediment, out of doors.
(Passim.)
When men think their rights and privileges are legitimate, in
their inward conscience; when they are persuaded that notwith-
standing contrary usages, they are still in full force — " in suo vigor e
" et plena roborc firmitatis permanent," — they resolve to use them
when they meet no hindrance ; and if they find any, they only
try to remove or surmount the obstacle.
Thus, it is not because Jesuits ought not to use all their privi-
leges that they do not make use of them, but simply because they
cannot. What inference can we draw then from a renunciation
which is rather negative than positive, and which, so far from
being a formal abdication, is only a reclamation against the
superior force of authority ?
Another fact, which completes 'the destruction of all the pre-
tences of renunciations made by the Jesuits, is the way in which
the Jesuits renounced, in 1587, three of their privileges in favour
of the Inquisition of the king of Spain.
General Aquaviva obtained a brief from the Pope to revoke
the two first, and had himself given letters patent to forbid the
59
use of the third. They were asked in the name of the king, that
the Fifth General Congregation should promulgate decrees on that
subject ; and the congregation ordered that it would not make
any use of those three privileges in Spain. (Decret. v., Yol. i.,
p. 548. Compendium, p. 267.)
If the Jesuits have similar act, briefs of the Pope, letters
patent 'of their General, and decrees of general congregations,
which revoke privileges that are contrary to the laws of the king-
dom of France, they ought to produce them ; or they ought to
offer them now. But so long as they continue to produce none,
and make no offer to resign those privileges, they cannot say,
with any shadow of truth, that they have renounced them, and
all their professions of submission and obedience are vain and
illusory, even if facts did not evidence against them.
Who could fail to wonder at the mass of censure and excommu-
nications, issued in such profusion at the will and pleasure of the
Society, for the preservation of these very privileges? These,
common, worthless, and abusive as they are, alarm the minds of
timid persons, and disturb the consciences of the weak, the stupid,
or the bigoted.
I present you with an abridged catalogue of these excommuni-
cations, and a very imperfect one of the persons, who are to be
excommunicated : —
All kings, princes, or administrators, who would impose any tax
or charge on the Society, on their persons or properties.
All those who cause any damage to the Society.
All those who oblige the Society to lend their churches or
houses for the performance of Mass, for ordination, or for pro-
cessions, assemblies, or ecclesiastical synods, or any other kind of
assemblies, or who place garrisons in them.
All who should dare to gainsay any of the concessions made to
the Jesuits.
All who refuse the office of Conservator to the Jesuits, or who
having accepted, shall exercise the office negligently.
All who should attack their houses with violence.
These excommunications comprehend, in short, all and every
person whether priest or monk, of whatever order, in whatever
position of rank or pre-eminence they may be placed, bishops,
60
archbishops, patriarchs, cardinals, — all who have any secular
dignity or authority whatsoever, who may attack the institution,
the constitutions, the decrees, or any of the articles of the Society,
or anything concerning them, even under the pretext of con-
troversy, or of zealously desiring the truth, directly or indirectly,
publicly or secretly ; or who may wish to alter or change the
above, or to give them another form.
All who may attempt to injure the reputation of the Jesuits.*
Heads of universities, and all others who may molest the
rectors and professors of their colleges.
All who oppose themselves to the privileges of the colleges of
the Jesuits' universities, degrees, etc.
All who may lodge or give refuge to Jesuits, who may have
left their houses without permission of the general.
All who may dare to retain anything belonging to members of
the Society, their houses or their colleges, even money, unless
on receiving notice from this Society, he should return it in three
days
All who should violate the sanctuary of their houses.
All fathers who choose to use their parental authority to pre-
vent their children from entering into the Society.
^//members of the Society, who may appeal from the ordinances
of the superior without the special permission of the Pope are
excommunicated.
There is an infinite number of other excommunications, too long
to report. (See Cent, and Prsecept. Compend. Bull, passim.}
As the privileges claimed by the Society are very extensive, and
as they may be imparted by the General without limit, excommu-
nications may also be multipled infinitely.
They have also privileges shielding them from excommunica-
tions. In places which are under interdict, Jesuits have the
privilege of immunity from excommunication or interdict.
All sentences of excommunication, suspension, and interdict,
which ordinaries or others may pass upon them, their houses, or
any persons belonging to them, are null, ipso facto, with respect to
* This article is ordered to be read once every year at table, in all the
houses of the Society. Vol. i., p. 1.
61
themselves ; and with respect to others, on their account, they
may be annulled.
What a mass of censures ! Is there any one in Europe, above
all, in France, who must not now be in danger of excommunica-
tion ? It is quite useless to ask, whether any government can
co-exist with this institution.
No government can ally itself with any establishment, the laws
of which are in contradiction to the laws of the State. I know
no country or nation, either monarchical, aristocratic, or demo-
cratic, with which the laws and the constitutions of the Jesuits
permit their being allied.
A king holds a very precarious sovereignty, when he has a
multitude of men in his dominions, who do not depend upon him
for the security of their lives and fortunes. He is not independent,
when a great number of men, exempted from his jurisdiction,
conscientiously believe, that they have a right to bring him and
the magistrates, his adherents, who exercise justice in his name,
before other judges chosen by themselves, and to reprehend and
punish by legal means, or by violent means, as they think best.
Jesuits, however, have always maintained themselves more
effectually in monarchies than in other governments. Rome in
past ages had most influence in great monarchies. It is easier to
flatter one man than many. Monarchies are the residence of
great men and courtiers. But even in those states Jesuits have
always been engaged in contests with all other bodies of men
whether of ecclesiastics or of layman ; and most of all with those,
who were the guardians of the laws of the State. Therefore
they always seek to ally themselves with the sovereign authority,
which allows itself to be entrapped ; for being naturally benevolent,
and seeing no meditated mischief in the favour which the Jesuits
solicit, it is almost always ready to grant it. Whereas the
ordinary tribunals of justice set themselves to consider and discuss
what is fit to be granted or refused according to the law.
The action of absolute authority is always convenient for
intrigue, inasmuch as it is silent and concealed. Its traces are
not perceived by the public or by posterity, so that it is easy
to disavow boldly the means of attack and defence, that are
employed.
62
Jesuits are less secure in republican states. It is almost impos-
sible, that their constitutions and manners should agree with the
laws of such governments, or with republican customs.
There are few countries, where they have been more frequently
attacked than in Venice ; from thence they have actually been
banished.
The only temporal power, with which the constitutions of the
Jesuits can agree is Rome. The institution has one common
principle with that court, the sovereign power of the Pope, both
in temporal and spiritual affairs ; but you have seen, that the
Society has found means to limit even that power, and to make
itself an independent power. The Pope, as a temporal prince,
has few complicated interests, either of finance or of commerce,
and the Society is more able to forward his spiritual interests
by residing away from Rome, than if it confined itself to _his
dominions.
The second principle of the constitutions of the Jesuits is the
communication of the power of the Pope to their Society in the
person of their General.
I have already said that in order to extend and maintain his
spiritual and temporal power, the Pope has increased and pro-
tected religious orders. You have seen that the special vow of
obedience to the Pope, made by St. Ignatius and his companions,
induced Pope Paul III. to confirm their institution.
The despotism of the General of the Jesuits was one of the
means, which Popes made use of to extend and maintain their
own.
This, Messieurs, is not a matter of conjecture ; it is to be found
in the formal text of the Bull, issued by Pope Gregory XIV.,
and granted to General Aquaviva at his request in 1591.
This Pope, who during his short pontificate, did his utmost to
favour the enterprises of the Leaguers in France, after having
explained and confirmed the immense prerogatives of the General
of the Jesuits, said that " Among other advantages and conveni-
ences which ivould result from it, is the fact, that the whole order,
being disciplined to monarchical government, its members being
always perfectly united in sentiment, and however dispersed in all
parts of the world, remaining bound to their chief by the rule of
63
implicit obedience, would be more easily led and directed by the
sovereign head, the vicar of Christ on earth, to perform the different
functions, that he may assign to each of them according to the
special voiv, which they have made" Qnoniam ratio ipsa docet.
That is to say, reason teaches that the government of the Jesuits
must be monarchical, and that of the other orders aristocratic.*
This declaration is clear, simple, and without equivocation, and
we have not to seek in probabilities the designs and intentions of
the court of Rome ; nor is there any need, that we should repre-
sent to you the consequences, which followed in Christian states
from the action of Popes and of this Society. Experience has
taught it to us, too well.
As some may maintain, that the authority of the General of
the Jesuits is only monarchical, and that I falsely consider it as
despotic, I ought to propound what I mean by despotism.
Despotism and slavery are relative terms, which explain each
other ; when one knows what a slave is, then one knows what a
despot is.
Not to have power over one's own possessions, that is slavery.
Not to have personal liberty is the greatest slavery known to
.. civil law. That degree of human degradation supposes the
highest degree of despotism. Not to have liberty of mind, of
one's own judgment, of one's own will, is a state of servitude,
which approaches to moral death. Civil laws do not recognise
it ; or rather they cannot know it. It was reserved to monastic
constitutions to furnish examples of that excess of despotism.
Civil despotism is a bad thing ; it is naturally repugnant to
reason. Spiritual despotism is impious ; it is an attempt against
the gift of God.
A spiritual despot can only establish his power by imposing his
own imaginations as divine inspirations. He is then really a
fanatic. He has the true character of fanaticism, and his fanaticism
* This inference is partly based upon facts which M. de la Chalotais has
not stated. But it must be remembered, that both he and the Parliament,
he was addressing, were intimately acquainted with the constitution of the
Ecclesiastical Orders, other than the Jesuits, at that time publicly existing
in France ; he did not therefore describe them in detail. — Editor.
64
is the more incurable in that he entertains it in his own person,
and feeds upon it himself.
For a purely spiritual authority pretending to have sovereign
temporal power, to communicate to monks a sovereign power,
independent, and in its very nature incommunicable, because it
pretends to be divine, is, let us not fear to say it, utter madness.
It is the last excess of fanaticism.
Let us see, whether that is the character which the Con-
stitutions give to the authority of the General.
The kind of despotism that he exercises is to be ascertained by
the nature of the obedience which is required. The Constitutions
throughout put the General in the place of God and of Jesus
Christ. This assumption is so marked in this respect, that I
think there are in the Constitutions more than 500 places,
in which expressions are used similar to the following: —
"We must always see Jesus Christ in the General; be obedient
"to him in all his behests, as if they came directly from God
"himself. That obedience must be complete in action, in the
" will, in the understanding ; you must feel convinced, that every-
" thing which the superior commands, is the precept and the will
" of God ; you must always see God himself and Jesus Christ in
"the superior, whoever he may be."
This sort of obedience is not possible for men, and this kind of
despotism ought not to be allowed ; because absolute submission
of heart and mind is due to God alone.
I should nevertheless observe, that in the Constitutions them-
selves, even where the most blind obedience is demanded, there
are some corrections and restrictions noted, that should not be
passed over.
In the Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, where its obser-
vance is so exaggerated, he cites a passage of St. Bernard in these
terms, " Ubi tamen Deo eontraria non preecipit homo." I find in
the Constitutions, P. Art. III. c. i., where obedience is spoken of,
" Ubipeccatum non cerneretur in omnibus rebus ad quas potest cum
" charitate se obedientia extendere."
The Declarations on these Constitutions intimate — " Ubi nuttum
manifestum est peccatum ; " and in the same place, " Ubi dcftnlri
non possit aliquod peccati genus intercedere."
65
These expressions doubtless express some limit to the stupid
obedience, which results from the comparison of the stick and the
corpse, and the example of Abraham, cited by St. Ignatius. I
should add, that in some of the rules of other monastic orders, the
same expressions are used.
I ought also to say, that ascetic books, or books of devotion,
should not be understood literally. They should rather be inter-
preted favourably ; we should not expect to find in them the
precision and exactitude, which is never required in them, and
which is not compatible with the ardour of zeal.
"Why, then, you will ask, are the constitutions of the Jesuits
not to be judged with the same leniency ?
It is because the obedience, which those constitutions require,
is not obedience to some law that is at all times binding and
powerful ; but it is obedience to the varying caprice and arbitrary
will of a superior, whoever he may be. He must not only be
obeyed immediately, quickly, without answer or remonstrance,
but his subject is required to believe inwardly, and to believe
firmly, that this superior, who may be fanciful or .capricious
or unjust, is entirely right, and that it is Almighty God, who
speaks by his mouth ; that what he orders is a precept of the
Almighty, and his holy will. All the members of the Society are
bound to execute everything that the General shall prescribe, with
the same full consent and submission, as the dogmas of the
Catholic faith. When he orders anything, it is not allowable to
consider whether the act prescribed is sinful or not.
If that is not complete fanaticism, I should like to hear a better
definition of it. It is evidently either fanaticism or madness.
If the constitutions of some other orders contain similar expres-
sions; if it is said, for instance, in the rule. of St. Benedict, that
there must be obedience even in things that are impossible ; if it
is said in the rules of the Chartreux, that the members must
immolate their will, as a sheep is sacrificed ; if the monastic
constitutions of St. Basil decide, that monks must be in the hands
of their superiors like the axe in the hands of the woodcutter ; if
it is said in the rules of the unshod Carmelites, that they must
execute the commands of their superior, as though the omission
to do so, or repugnance to do it, was mortal sin ; if St. Bernard
66
assures us that obedience is a blessed blindness, which causes the
soul to see the road to salvation ; if St. John Climacus says, that
obedience is the tomb of will — that under obedience we discern
nothing and make no resistance ; lastly, if we find in St. Buenaventura
that a really obedient man is like a corpse, which allows itself to
be touched, moved, and removed without making any resistance : —
these are strong expressions made use of in monastic writings
which are unauthorized by the Church. But they are all collected
in the constitutions of the Jesuits, more strong, more frequent,
and multiplied ; and consequences, even the most absurd, are
formally deduced from them. And, after all, one abuse, whatever
it may be, does not legalise another, which nothing can justify.
Its being brought into observation should only cause all such
abuses to be reformed.
This proves what I stated at first — that everything done under
the cloak of religion passes current ; imaginations^gradually become
heated ; and, as has been said by the Abbe de Fleury in his 8th
Discourse, this heat has gone on increasing in intensify, and by
means of examples and similitudes, the most absurd and strange
ideas have become consecrated ; even from one form of abuse to
another. Governments are on the point of being obliged either to
tolerate every species of disorder, or to unsettle everything.
If passive obedience is always dangerous, it is most essentially
so in the hands of a political order, governed by a permanent
General, who has means of knowing the most intimate thoughts
>of all its members from the time of their infancy.
The few correctives and restrictions that I have noticed would
form very weak defences against so absolute a power as that
of the General.
To secure and ensure a despotism it must be durable in the
same person. An empire liable to change its despot must be a
weak one. The General of the Jesuits preserves his power as long
as he lives. Pope Paul IV. wished to make the command of the
General triennial. I have spoken of the manoeuvres of Laynez to
render it perpetual, and that the complaints against that perpetuity
burst forth under Pius V. Their effect was escaped through his
death : his death rendered them useless. These efforts were re-
newed under Sixtus V., whe died before he had achieved what he
67
had begun. At last Aquaviva consummated the work of despotism,
and the perpetuity of the generalship, under the pontificate of
Gregory XIV. One of the reasons alleged for it by Aquaviva
was that papacy and royalty are also perpetual.
In other Orders, assemblies and chapters exist, that are barriers
against the authority of a perpetual superior ; but among the
Jesuits there is no chapter nor assemblies, nor any fixed time for
deliberations.
General congregations alone are above the General, in the
same manner that an oecumenical council only is superior to the
Pope.
They say, that the General is not absolute, because he may be
deposed by a general council. It is true, that he might be deposed
if he became mad or imbecile, and in five other cases, which
hardly can happen, because the acts must be openly proved.
1. Copula carnalis. 2. Wounding some one. 3. Taking some
part of the revenues of the college for his own defence. 4. Making
gifts to any one, not belonging to the Society ; and this last
case may be modified, as we have seen in the constitutions.
5. Maintaining bad doctrines.
It is said that General Gonzales was on the point of being
deposed, but that proves nothing. A cabal nearly deposed that
General because he attacked probableism, one of the favourite doc-
trines of the Society, which he wished to proscribe. But fanaticism
claimed its rights, I mean uniformity of opinion in the order ;
so that one kind of fanaticism was on the point of destroying
another.
Despotism refuses all connections ! it does not attach itself to
persons, but it binds persons to itself. The contracts of despotism
are never reciprocal, and engagements are absolute or conditional
according to its interest.
A Jesuit pronounces his first vows to the Church, thereby placing
himself in the hands of a superior, or some one appointed to receive
them. Those vows are not made, they say, in the hands of any person
— in nullis manibns fieri dicuntur — because they are only made to
God. The intention is, they say, that these should not be solemn
vows, although they are made in a solemn manner. They cease
to be binding to the contractors whenever the General pleases. He
r2
68
dispenses with them at his will, and when he liberates a subject
he declares him free from any engagement. But (the answer is,
that) the individual is strictly bound to the Society by that vow,
and if he endeavoured to retract it himself he might be treated
as an apostate, and excommunicated. He might be prosecuted as
such, if he obtained his liberation by any false statement ; never-
theless, the Society is not bound to him, because that vow having
been made in the intention of the constitutions, " Omnia inteUi-
genda juxtd ipsius societatis const itutiones, the Society has only
received him under the tacit condition, as far as it thought good,
Si societas eos tenere volet. He can never leave the Society after his
first vows without the permission of the General, but the General
may dismiss him at any time, even after he has made the last
vows, to whatever grade or dignity he may have attained ; and
that dismissal may be made without consulting any one, for secret
reasons — l'0b secretas causas," — for reasons which do not suppose
any sinfulness ; and even without providing him with any means
of subsistence.
One sees the spirit, which has dictated laws such as these ; and
though the case may very rarely occur, that last rule nevertheless
characterizes the most terrible despotism, as much as all the
stringent precepts of passive and absolute obedience. The first
want of man is to live, and his strongest fear is to die of hunger.
Civil slavery is nothing to that.
Spiritual despotism, or fanaticism, has no object but a selfish
one ; it would be contrary to its nature to have any other.
Thus, although we read in their Constitutions, that the object of
the Society, is the glory of God ; it is evident from its history,
that the first object and the last end of the system, has long been
the advancement of the Society, its glory, and its extension.
This despotism is necessarily ambitious, but the pride of occu-
pying high offices does not satisfy it. It endeavours to dominate
over minds — a much higher ambition; and if it avoids the
ordinary paths of ambition it is only to seek for more distinguished
conquests.
St. Ignatius had shut the door to prelacies. Laynez opened
another road to ambition. In the first council he held, he ordered,
that is any of his Society should be elevated to the dignity of a
69
prelate, he should promise always to follow the advice of the
General, or of such Jesuits as he should appoint to represent
him. It is true, he added this saving clause to that promise :
" If I feel, that, what he may advise is preferable to my own
opinion, adding to this all being understood according to the con-
stitutions and declarations of the Society "
One sees by this, that the Jesuits did not seek to become pre-
lates, because St. Ignatius had forbidden it ; but if such prefer-
ment should be conferred, the prelate must remain subject to the
Society or to the General, and must obey his suggestions, as if he
was still a Jesuit.
If ordinary ambition is odious, when it embraces everything
spiritual or religious, ambition is still more odious, when it unites
the appearance of good with the injustice of usurpation, and
wishes, with its usual greediness, to enjoy the consideration, which
is due to virtue alone.
Temporal despotism does not necessarily imply moral corrup-
tion ; but then all despotism corrupts those who exercise it, if
that despotism is both spiritual and temporal ; this requires a
plastic morality, which will satisfy everybody. A rigid morality
would be unsuitable. It cannot combine with anything.
One would have supposed, that principles would govern every-
thing ; but here on the contrary, the will of man reigns supreme.
What suits spiritual despotism is a versatile morality (if I may
so express myself), severe or relaxed, according to circumstances,
admitting of interpretations, the limits of which are elastic.
We must, however, allow that the morality of the Constitutions
is pure and wise. St. Ignatius contemplated the attainment of
evangelical perfection ; the crowd of accommodating casuists arose
later in the annals of the Society; they corrupted the pure
morality of the founder by subtleties, and policy took advantage
of their logic.
Despotism acts by inquisition and denunciation ; all its views
are concealed ; thence the necessity for spies and informers.
The despot needs to know the characters of his subjects, their
talents, and the qualities of their hearts and heads, even their
tempers, in order that he may employ them where they will be
most useful.
70
Their inmost consciences ought, if possible, to be laid open
to him.
He must keep his subjects in perpetual distrust of each other,
in order that tbey may confide in him only, and that his power
alone may be felt.
In a state of slavery everything is vile and low ; it does not
allow of elevation of mind, or of liberty of thought ; under the
influence of spiritual despotism and of fanaticism, everything is
actuated by the dominant impressions of a stranger.
No laudable project can be conceived in the mind of a slave ; it
is not possible, that minds degraded by servitude, and espionage,
and denunciation, by an inquisition menacing incessantly, can
conceive great ideas ; if nature had made them magnanimous,
education and their position would stultify their natural courage.
Slaves have no country ; they have been obliged to forget the
homes of their fathers and the place of their birth. They see
nothing but the greatness of the despot, whom they serve, of the
empire, he has created ; their eyes are always fixed on the hands
of their masters, and they have no more (independent) activity
than an inanimate instrument.
It is written in Articles 9 and 10 of the Common Rules, Yol.
ii., p. 70, that each Jesuit ought to be glad that all his failings
and his faults, and generally everything that has been observed
in him, should be noticed by the first comer, who may know it,
and not by his own confession.*
That they must take it well to be so corrected, and must in the
same way correct others, and be ready to report concerning each
other ; because, moreover, that is commanded by the superior, for
the greater glory of God. These are three articles out of the
five which are declared to be necessary to the institute. Sub-
stantia imtituti.
In the ordinances of the Generals on those rules, Vol. ii. p. 266,
it is set down, that the meaning of this rule is, that it is permitted
to everyone to reveal to his superior as he might reveal to his
own father, the faults of his neighbour, whether light or important.
In the 4th chapter of the examination of persons, who wish to
* This rule manifestly applies only to the Jesuits, as between them-
selves.— Editor.
71
enter into the Society, they are questioned on the 9th and 10th
rules, of which I have been speaking ; and they are warned, that
by that they abandon all right, whatever it may be, to their own
reputation, and that they yield it to the superiors, for the good of
their souls and the glory of God.
They are warned in the same ordinance, p. 266, that the same
is to be understood of all faults, all sins, all errors, and all
inadvertencies.
Article the 5th imports, that the rule respecting revelations
is imperative, and that it is not permitted to wait for an order
from the superior ; above all (Article 7th states), if the matter
is detrimental to the common interests of religion or of the
institution, and particularly of the General. These ordinances
were made by Aquaviva.
I shall limit myself to some observations, on what you have
just heard. I beg to ask, whether a man can cede his right
to his own reputation to another man ? and whether his reputa-
tion is more transferable than his life ? and moreover, whether
such an abandonment is consistent with good manners and with
reason, and with religion ?
I ask, moreover, whether it is right to lay ecclesiastics under
the obligation to be spies upon each other ? to prepare tender and
impressible souls for dissimulation and falsehood ? It is corrupt-
ing the heart, degrading the mind, depriving men of every senti-
ment of honour, and all motive for praiseworthy emulation ; it is
degrading to human nature, under the false pretence of bringing
it to perfection. What use might not an ambitious and wicked
superior make of such instruments ?
Constantly occupied in self-concealment, while they are engaged
in watching others ; they are taught to think that they must
betray their neighbour for his good. This indeed is fanaticism.
Is it astonishing, that uniformity of doctrine, which is so hurtful
to the natural liberty of mind, should have become a fundamental
•>
maxim of the order ? Since the Constitutions deny freedom of will '
to Jesuits, they cease to be Frenchmen, or Spaniards, or Germans; *
they are Jesuits.
What means are not employed to extinguish in their minds the /
spirit of enquiry ?
72
Simply, Aquaviva relates in his preface to the Directory for
their spiritual exercises, that God Himself had communicated to
St. Ignatius, as head and founder of the Society, the whole plan
for its government, exterior and interior.
The connection of the institution with the glory of God, and
the advantage of the Church, and of religion, is continually urged
on the members.
They are questioned on temptations against the institution,
Tentatio contra institutum, which are represented as the most
dangerous of all temptations. Aquaviva makes this the 13th
chapter of his instructions. In them there is a special charge to
give an exact account of all scruples felt on this subject, and of all
those, which members perceive in others ; this exactitude is pre-
scribed as one of the most essential points.
To feel the smallest doubt on any of the smallest of their privi-
leges would be a serious sin : it would show a doubt of the
legitimacy of the vows, of the power of the Pope, and of that
of the Society and its founders.
Finally these impressions are strengthened by exercises, to
which indulgences and graces are attached. These are called in
the Noviciate, spiritual exercises. A young man is shut up
alone in a room, without books, and removed from all noise, lest
his attention should be distracted, and he is ordered to meditate.
I give you some examples : —
He is to represent to himself two standards and two chiefs; one
is Jesus Christ, the other is Satan.
He must picture to himself Jesus Christ in an agreeable form,
in a well situated camp, sending His disciples to assemble soldiers ;
and Satan in a ^ hideous shape, also assembling soldiers from all
parts of the world.
When he meditates on hell, he must imagine a flaming plain,
with souls burning in the fire ; he must hear cries and blas-
phemies, and imagine that he suffers, from smell and taste, the
most repulsive sensations. Every novice is taught that he must
make a meditation of that kind in the middle of the night and in
the morning, and repeat it after mass ; that he ought to be struck
with these objects, as if he saw them before him ; that he ought
73
to see with the eyes of his imagination, and taste by the taste of
his imagination, etc.
There was formerly a chamber for meditations, where pictures
were placed to assist the imagination ; this we see in the examina-
tions of Chatel,* Guerret, and Guignard. These last confessed,
that they had often taken Chatel into such a room, and he con-
fessed that he had been in such a one.
To present such exercises to young people with strong and vivid
imaginations, as ordinary helps to perfection, and to propose them
to men habitually in common life, and to women, as they are
proposed and boasted of in the Constitutions, is an endeavour to
inspire enthusiasm and fanaticism.
These exercises, so often repeated, can only be considered as
arts to .procure ecstasies reduced to system ; the strongest heads
might be affected by this institution. To convince ourselves of
this, we have only to read what the most sensible of writers have
observed of the force of imagination, the power of habit, the con-
tagion of example, and authority, and the inclination of many
men to superstition, of the manner, in which the most unreason-
able opinions have been established, and the difficulty of restoring
minds, that have once been disordered by them.
I think that it is wise, and even a duty, to suppress institutions
that have this tendency to produce excitement.
That is one of the reasons for the objection I feel to retreats and
congregations.
It is said that exercises of that kind are practised in some re-
treats. It is a notorious fact, that in some towns in the provinces
persons struck with those terrible images, have come away from
those exercises with derangement of mind, and an alienation of
judgment marked by fatal effects ; the fact is proved by inquests.
There are moreover legal reasons for objecting to congregations.
They are only, as we have seen, emanations from the general
congregation at Rome, held in the professed house, or if you
please so to state it, they are congregations that the General
establishes by his plenary authority. He can give them statutes,
and grant them indulgences, cum facultate visitandi, statuta con-
dendi, mutandi ac indulgentias communicandi. He may also abro-
* Chatel attempted to murder Henry IV. in 1694.
74
gate them when he chooses. There are parishes created over
other parishes, in favour of which Christians are dispensed by
Bulls from attending the offices of their churches, as they are
bound to do by the canons.
In France the power of a Papal nuncio is limited ; he is
not allowed to exercise any act of spiritual jurisdiction ; yet
notwithstanding this, a foreign ecclesiastic is allowed to exer-
cise jurisdiction in most of the towns in the kingdom. What a
contradiction !
The public education, which the Jesuits give to their pupils in
their classes, fosters the ultramontane spirit, that predominates in
themselves, and the spirit of party, which agitates them, in con-
sequence of old prejudices and the ignorance of the sixteenth
century.
Their plan of study may have been fit for times, when it was
necessary to bring people out of the state of profound ignorance, in
which they were plunged when that plan was laid down; but
then the instructors, who substituted themselves for the teaching
of the universities ought to have done better than they ; instead
of that they did worse.
The instructions which we find in the Constitutions of Aqua-
viva, under the title of "Ratio Studiorum;" prepared by six
Jesuits, Bunder the orders of Aquaviva, for lower and upper
classes, are a tissue of pedantry and absurdities on the subjects
of literature and philosophy, and with respect to theology, they
excited the murmurs and complaints of the Spanish theologians,
and even of some Jesuits.
I know that it is not fair to compare them with those modern
writers, who have profited by the ^observations and successive
discoveries, which the human mind has made ; but there were
then in the works of Erasmus and Scaliger and several others,
much more profound ideas. In the university, Turnebe, Bude,
Vatable, and Ramus had been distinguished, Dorat Lambin, the
Eteinns, Passerat, Calepin, and many others who have been
eulogised by the learned De Thou, and were far more capable of
executing such a work than these teachers.
Nevertheless it is this book, or rather these instructions, pre-
pared by six Jesuits, under the inspection of Aquaviva (Ratio
75
Studiorum], which still forms the rule of study pursued by the
Jesuits, and which for the sake of the uniformity of their doc-
trines, they will continue to follow in their colleges as long as the
Society subsists.
When men begin to know that they are ignorant, they also begin
to feel the necessity of learning and education. These Jesuits
passed from one extreme to the other ; and from being scarcely
able to read and write, they thought it would be a very fine thing
to learn to speak the languages of Athens and of ancient Rome.
They turned the whole attention of nations to the acquirement of
languages, which, after all, they did not learn well. That bad
habit remained : abuses are very apt to last, though good methods
degenerate. I will recall to the Jesuits an authority which they
dare not controvert, that of a man who had been a Jesuit ten
years, the Abbe Gredouin. He says in a very good work on edu-
cation, printed in his CEuvrcs Diverses, " I wish public schools
" would make themselves more useful in altering an old system,
" which limits the education of children to a very narrow sphere,
" and which produces very narrow-minded men ; for when these
" young people have passed ten years at college — and what valu-
" able years ! — the most precious years of their lives — what have
"they learnt?" What can we think of a literary institution
established near the end of the sixteenth century, that nobody
has thought of improving since ? Why it is two hundred years j
behind hand. One single treatise of one professor of the univer- !
sity has spread more light on learning than all the literature,
which has occupied the Societ}^ since its establishment. The spirit ,
_.of party forbids all foreign books, and all other learning. That
spirit of party had decided the choice even of classic works for
200 years. The Jesuits have even kept the grammars, which they
had adopted, and the absurd method of giving in unintelligible
technical verses the rules of a language which they wish to teach.
What can we think of a literary institution, which requires an
ordinance from its General, or from a general congregation, to
change its grammar, or to adopt a system of physics or astronomy ; ;
an institution in which you have about fifty thousand professors
of philosophy, and not one philosopher of acknowledged reputa-
tion ; and about the same number of professors of literature, and so
76
few good literary works ; and perhaps about two thousand pro-
fessors of mathematics, and so few mathematicians : two or three
orators, who value the public, perhaps, more than the public
value them.
Some learned men there are, who are already grown old, who
had taught themselves, notwithstanding the bad system of studies,
such at Petau, Sermond, and some others.
No historian of any note has appeared, excepting Mariana, so
celebrated for his beautiful latinity and his execrable principles ;
and who speaks with such contempt of their methods of in-
struction. They have produced a very few partial histories. I
wish however, to make honourable mention of the author of
" Negotiations in Westphalia." There are many books of con-
troversy and commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, which have
been forgotten, excepting Bellarmine, and Maldonato ; as well
as other controversial works, of unknown date : a multitude of
books of devotion : no Catechism worthy of the name.
I do not blame any individuals. I reproach the institution.
Choosing men, as they do, in their colleges, they must have many
good men in their Society ; but an ill chosen system of study,
worse methods, a circle of sciences too rapidly pursued. Two
precious years ill spent in the noviciate, nine or ten years as
tutors de regence, during which they scarcely learn themselves
what they have to teach to others, makes it impossible for them
to lay a foundation for exact knowledge and solid erudition before
they have reached the age of thirty-two or thirty-three years.
Every one acquainted with science knows, that its success de-
pends on its commencement, and afterwards on method.
I leave to more competent persons to judge of their theological
studies ; but I have shown that the Ratio Stndiorum on that
subject, at first excited murmurs. In was censured by the Inqui-
sitors of Spain, and the king of Spain carried their complaints to
the Pope.
I find in Vol. ii., p. 429, an instruction on theology, which
strikes me as being very singular, and which is the more worthy
of the attention of bishops, because it is one of the rules laid
down to learn religion.
It is there remarked, that the works of the ancients, as St. Jerome,
77
St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and others " Aim Consimilibus,"
are Books of Devotion, and that the books of St. Thomas, of St.
Buenaventura, of the master of the sentences, and the new
theologians, teach more exactly the dogmas necessary to salva-
tion, and have explained them better for their times, and for
future times.
The Jesuits are moreover accused of having since that time
excluded St. Thomas from that catalogue. They have been
reproached for not having sufficiently respected the authority
of the Church, in an article of the General Examination, chap. III.
and XI., which imports that anyone entering into the Society,
shall be questioned, whether he has, or has ever had, any thoughts
or opinions different from those, which are commonly held by the
Church, and by the doctors, who are approved by the Church ;
and whether, if such opinions have made any impression on
his mind, he is ready to submit his judgment and his sentiments
to those of the Society.
This article certainly is couched in those irreverent terms ; and
if by the word opinions they mean sentiments, which is nearly
included in the meaning of the term, the article would be more
than ill sounding (mal sonnant), to make use of a scholastic term.
They have endeavoured in their congregations to bring some kind
of mitigation to the severity of the term, by resting on the signi-
fication of the word opinio, and on the signification of the word
communius in Spanish.
Before I leave the subject of the Constitutions, I ought to
elucidate some political paradoxes produced by them.
How can such singular constitutions be the work of a body of
men ? Were they intended to form ecclesiastics, or to create an
independent body ? Can a whole body of men be corrupted, and
adopt principles, manifestly bad, in order to obtain credit ? How
is it possible, that sensible men should judge so differently ? or,
rather say, how can they take such opposite views of the same
work? I do not think that it is impossible to clear up these
difficulties, if we set aside prejudices and predispositions.
It has never happened, that a whole body of men has fabricated
a code of extravagances, nor a system of legislation that was
vicious in itself. It is quite impossible that the union of religious
78
individuals should produce irreligion. Young people brought up
to goodness, and virtue, do not become corrupt and wicked
old men.
The Constitutions are not the work of any body of men, or of
any assembly, and he, moreover, who laid the foundation was far
from criminal or vicious.
The Constitutions have two faces, because they were formed
with two intentions ; on the one side, for the glory of God and
the salvation of souls, and on the other side, for the glory of the
Society and its future extension. This causes the difference
of opinion concerning them. Their admirers look only at the
first aspect, and their detractors see only the second.
The zeal of St. Ignatius for the former object might not,
perhaps, entirely prevent him from flattering himself with the
second idea, since he established means to serve both purposes ;
but most of his successors have been occupied with the second
object only. In the petitions, which they presented to Popes, they
were actuated by the sole wish of promoting the greatness and
extension of their Society ; and they extorted from them
exorbitant and countless privileges, which now form a part of
their Constitutions. Their successors again extended, amplified,
and interpreted them ; they looked only to one object, and neg-
lected the first intention. Those means, which were already far
greater than the religious object required, such as passive obedi-
ence, inquisition of conscience, accusations, uniformity of doctrine;
: these means have become odious and intolerable, since ambi-
tion has used them for political purposes. Spiritual advantage
confounded with temporal advantage ; human authority with
Divine authority; is good stretched to evil — ill-understood, ill-
advised, ill-applied, and ill-executed. Such a system might be
treated with contempt, if it was confined to a cloister, from the
derangement of intellect, which it seems to involve, and if it only
concerned a monastic order ; but it becomes too dangerous, when
it is presented to the outward world, and interferes with public
order, which it overthrows. The system of the Jesuits is necessarily
ultramontane ; it is based on ultramontane doctrine, which is
inherent in the Society. Scholastics draw from that principle
murderous doctrines, which St. Ignatius never held, and that he
79
never would have adopted, however attached he might be to the
belief of the absolute power of the Pope.
Bad morals or corrupt principles of morality form no part of
the Constitutions ; these have been introduced since, by the
metaphysics of their casuists, who found it elsewhere. These
were rather the offspring of false logic than of corruption of
heart. Nevertheless morality is absorbed in the doctrinal code of
the Society by the fatal principle of unity of sentiments, and by
want of liberty of niind. Thus the Society finds itself with a
corrupt code of morality almost without knowing it, and perhaps
without believing it.
Nevertheless it is scarcely conceivable, that, after the frequent
and public reproaches that have been addressed to the Jesuits,
after the censures of their propositions by Popes, and by the
clergy of France, their rulers should have obstinately persisted in
refusing to make the reformation and corrections in their code of
morality, which is so needful, so pressing.
Religion, and even their own interest, should have induced them
to undertake the task ; but no ; they would not infringe on the
principle of uniformity of sentiment ; they would not turn round
and retract what had been done. There is, as the consequence,
that dangerous spirit of party and servitude of mind, which estab-
lishes a much more degrading slavery than that of the person.
If the Jesuits had taught nothing but corrupt maxims of
morality and relaxation, they would very shortly have been
turned out of all the kingdoms in the world ; but they united
science and regularity of manners ; and thus both good and evil
were found amongst them.
I think this is sufficient to explain the paradoxes of which I
have spoken.
Prove fanaticism in the leaders, and fanatical institutions, as I
think I have done, and the difficulty is explained ; and one no
longer wonders at the contrariety of opinions respecting the
Society ; and individuals will recover their reputation.
But whatever views they may adopt, it is evident that the
constitutions, and the rules are very dangerous ; on the one hand,
means of religion, on the other hand, instruments of fanaticism.
To judge of the effect of those means, it seems necessary to
80
examine in detail the doctrines of the Society, and the facts,
which relate to it.
Suppose that a man has a dangerous instrument in his hands —
an offensive weapon ; will he use it for attack, or defence ? to
help, or to injure ? That is the question ?
To decide that question, it is natural to ask, what he is?
on what side his interest lies ? what are his opinions ? and how
he has hitherto made use of that weapon ?
But if we begin to weigh facts, and to pass judgment on
persons and doctrines, it would open the door to inconvenient and
interminable discussions, and all the absurdities of party.
Let us, then, place an impartial judgment between extravagant
admirers and bitter critics ; let public opinion, which infallibly
appreciates men at their real worth, decide between them.
By the public, I mean in matters of judgment not that living
public, which is agitated by love or hatred, which judges on slight
appearances, which may be either true or false, which does not
wait to examine anything, and easily allows itself to be won by
flattery, or deceived by seduction : not partizan theologians,
whose judgment is formed before the case is stated : but well-
informed private persons, who have already deserved the respect
of mankind, and whose name is a recommendation in the society
of men of all nations, all classes, all professions ; who form and
transmit to posterity the voice of the public; statesmen and
legislators, who have no predilections but respect for established
laws, and the good of the State.
That is the public, which makes no mistakes, and cannot
be deceived, and from whose judgment no one can escapes.
Individuals may conceal their character all their lives, but it is
impossible, that aggregated bodies should not be understood
after they have existed two hundred years ; and above all,
celebrated bodies, which have been attacked and defended so
often.
The public often deceives itself with respect to Living persons
who hold office ; but they retract in the end.
Ministers have been known to die oppressed with public hatred,
but they have received from the succeeding generation the
81
honour and esteem, which their merits and their services de-
served.
I would ask of the Jesuits themselves, what is the public opinion
concerning themselves (and the public bears no ill will to them),
Is it not, that the public has seen no harm in them; that the
individuals they are acquainted with are honest men, estimable
men, but that the body is bad ? And in proof of this, allow me
to quote a common saying, when a person wishes to give a favour-
able idea of any persons with whom they are connected, they say,
" They are not Jesuits (or Jesuitical)." That is an old saying,
and very universal among good people, who have no preposses-
sions. And does it not show in substance the truth of what
I have stated.
I would ask then, moreover, what the public thinks of ecclesi-
astics, who confine themselves to the performance of their proper
functions. Do they not give praise to such men, as Bourdaloue,
Cbeminais, Petau, Sermond, etc ?
Why is it, that the public, which is so just to the merits of
individuals, thinks so differently of the body, and its institutions? ;
— that very public, which principally owes its education to them ?
Let that public tell us the cause of the prejudice against them all
over Europe. What would they reply to the judgments, which
have been passed upon them in all ages by great men in the
Church, and by statesmen ; by Melchior Canus, the learned Bishop
of the Canary Islands ; by Eustache de Bellay, Bishop of Paris ;
by an Archbishop of Toledo ; by an Archbishop of Dublin ; by
the judicious De Thou, whose name alone is an eulogium ; by
Mon. De Canaye, Ambassador of the King at Venice ; by le
Premier President De Harlay ; by all the king's officers in the
Parliament of Paris, who have spoken or given opinions on their
affairs ; MM. Seguier, Dumesnil, Marion, Servin, and by those,
who now occupy their places with so much distinction ; by
learned and pious bishops ; by the University of Paris ; by the
clergy of Rome; by the Cardinal d'Ossat; and by so many
others, whom I will forbear to name.
If the opinions, in which both individuals and large bodies of
men coincided respecting the Jesuits from the time of their first
establishment, were not founded on common report in those days
82
they must have foreseen what would be said in future ; for they
were stigmatised at those distant periods precisely as they are now.
The public judges according to facts; that is a very reasonable
manner of judging men. They see vicious doctrines taught in a
religious society by the chief members, and they reproach the main
body for its laws, whose duty it is to correct them. It sees in all
kingdoms a society of ecclesiastics, who occasion dissension, quarrel-
ling with bodies of men, and with individuals ; it sees, that it is
that society, which excites troubles, and it thinks that it is
impossible that the Jesuits can always be in the right against the
reason of the whole world ; the public sees that these ecclesi-
astics employ violence to establish their sentiments ; it is indig-
nant to see men whom it esteems, persecuted for their opinions.
It sees ecclesiastics invade commerce, and carry its profits into
foreign countries ; the public knows, that trade is forbidden to
ecclesiastics, and that the national commerce is injured by their
practice of it, and the public considers, that conduct unbecoming
and odious.
I say no more ; the public will add only too many more articles
to this enumeration.
There are still in the system and the institution some political
contradictions to be examined. For instance, nothing but the
delirium of fanaticism can conceive the hope of leading men, in
an enlightened age, as they were led in the sixteenth century, by
abusive privileges, and the five or six Bulls, which contain them;
that nations can remain for ever the dupes of appearances ; that
kings will never make the enquiry, whether there really exists
within their dominions a body of men, who imagine themselves
permitted to commit murder even on their sacred persons ; that
they can trade in the four quarters of the globe, and persuade
nations, they do not trade.
It is an inconceivable effort of policy to have attempted to re-
concile the most striking anomalies — To have captivated the
confidence of kings while maintaining, that in certain cases, they
have a right over their lives — To have succeeded in calming suc-
cessive storms by making promises without ever keeping them —
To be hated as a body and loved individually — To have secured
the protection of the Pope by a vow of servile obedience, while
83
they disobey him perpetually, and only obey another man — To
craftily obtain the confidence of bishops while maintaining,
whenever it serves their purpose, that they do not owe them
any obedience — To acquire great riches by saying they have
none, and making vows of poverty — To escape always by making
divisions, exciting disputes, and supposing differences, where there
are none. The most moderate statement, that can be made of the
consequences of these constitutions, and these moral and political
contradictions is, that these constitutions are a very dangerous
implement in the hands of a system, foreign to the State : a
system, prepossessed by sentiments contrary to the peace and
security of all kingdoms ; necessarily ultramontane ; fanatical by
duty, by profession, and by habit.
I think, that all I have said is confirmed by two irreproachable
witnesses, who cannot deceive us, experience and public opinion :—
experience, the teacher of men and kings, which conquers pre-
judices, partialities, and theories ; and public opinion, the just
and unbiassed judge of men.
I must pass to a more important point. You have not com-
missioned me to make any report to you on a subject, which has
been discussed in the Parliament of Paris. I mean the doctrine
of regicide ; but being obliged, by the office I hold, to watch
over all that concerns the rights of the king and his sacred
person, must I not be alarmed at every thing, which may place
him in peril? Should I hesitate to denounce it? Can one
hear without shuddering, that certain Christians have taught
the cases, in which it is allowable to murder kings ; that there
exists a religious society, in which that doctrine is received ;
that the books in which it is taught are existing ; that they are
publicly praised ; and that these books have been written by the
best accredited writers of their order ?
Does the Society maintain a murderous doctrine ? Can it be
imputed to the body of the Society ? This is a mere question of
fact.
The fact is neither long nor difficult of discussion. There are
acknowledged rules, by which to establish facts; and to learn,
whether one ought or ought not to attribute a sentiment to a
84
body, it is enough to produce their books, and authentic passages
in them.
The question is, whether Jesuits believe, or do not believe
murderous doctrines. Do they believe, that there is any case, in
which it is right to attempt the life of a king ? That is the ques-
tion. If they do not believe it, let them say so. They can, and
they ought. Ecclesiastics, who print so many books, need not be
called to answer accusations in writing, which may be proved
by their printed books, if they teach clearly, precisely, and with-
out any double meaning, what their doctrine is : that in no case
murder can be permitted, and that all this may be read in their
theses, in their writings, and in their books. Then no man can
impute that execrable doctrine to them without exposing himself
to an easy and formal confutation.
But so long as we find them eulogising works, in which doc-
trines are taught that inculcate murder, and endeavouring to
justify themselves by declarations which they confess were only
made to those who threatened to make forcible use of the power
that they hold in their hands, as it was said by the Jesuit Zacharias
in 1758, and which declarations are clearly open to disavowal by
their Constitutions ; so long they may justly be suspected of
holding this abominable doctrine.
They have lain under this accusation a hundred and fifty
years, and during that hundred and fifty years they have held
the same line of conduct.
What should we think of any man accused of a capital crime,
who always said he had means of proving his innocence, but who
never produced them ? I speak of a capital crime, for I say, that
to teach crime is even worse than to commit it, for the assassin
arms his own hand only : fanatics arm men of all nations.
The opinions of the power of the Pope over things temporal,
and of his infallibility, are two parallel opinions, created by
ambition to support each other ; for, as it was said by Mon. Talon
in 1665, is any author of that sect to be found, who, after having
asserted the false principle of the infallibility of the Pope, does
not draw from it the dangerous consequence, that he may in
certain cases take cognizance of matters concerning the govern-
ment of states, and the conduct of sovereigns? Both opinions
85
are founded on the same basis, which is also the foundation of all
other ultramontane pretensions.
It is impossible, adds Mon Talon, to use too much care and
severity in order to arrest the progress and dry the source of
so much evil.
If, in fact, men were really capable of believing, that the head
of an ecclesiastical society, which is established in all the known
regions of the earth, can never be mistaken, he must of course
be the sovereign of the world ; for the opinion of the populace
(infatuated by this vain doctrine so inconsistent with the con-
dition of humanity) will surely not be restrained by the absurd
distinction of judgments given ex cathedra, and those which are
not so given. The people do not reason, and the world cannot
be regulated by scholastic distinctions ; thus it becomes impossible
to dispute any right with one, who is deemed infallible, and who
is believed to be invested with divine power ; and accordingly all
the authors, who have asserted the infallibility of the Pope and
his power, direct or indirect, over the temporal power of kings,
have maintained, that he might in certain cases depose kings,
absolve subjects from their oaths of fidelity ; and in consequence,
that kings might he killed.
This is the chain of their reasoning : " The sovereign power of
" the Pope can and ought to restrain the temporal power by all
"the means, which it sees to be necessary for the salvation of
" souls ; without that power God would have left the Church
" without the means of providing for its own security and preser-
"vation." These are the formal expressions of Bellarmine,
Molina, and Suarez, and all the authors of the Society from
whose works I have already quoted some passages to you. If
the prince does not obey the commands of the Pope, the Pope
may excommunicate him.
A man, who is excommunicated, is deprived, ipso facto, of all
temporal rights ; in such a case a prince is deprived of royalty,
and cannot do any royal act without rebellion against his
legitimate superior, the Pope. The Pope may therefore deprive
him of his. crown, absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity,
and transfer his empire to another. If the prince persists in dis-
obedience, he may be treated as a tyrant, in which case anybody
86
may kill him. A quocumque private protest interfici, so says
Suarez. (I. 6, ch. iv.)
Such is the course of reasoning, established by all authors of
the Society, who have written ex professo, on these subjects —
Bellarrnine, Suarez, Molina, Mariana, Santarel, all of the ultra-
montaues, without exception, since the establishment of the
Society.*
On this point, said Suarez, we are all of one mind, et in liac
causa union sumus. Zacharias said in 1758 that it is a doctrine
commonly taught by Catholic theologians. In fact there is no
difference between them, excepting that some say that the
murder of kings should be preceded by a judicial sentence, and
others have thought with Mariana that, in certain cases that
formality was not necessary.
It then is proved that the doctrine of murder may be attributed
to the body of the Society, and that the Jesuits are convicted of
having taught it ; but how can one prove that a doctrine is that
of a whole body, and that it is fair to attribute it to the whole
body universally ?
If the members of the body have freedom of opinion ; if there
is a diversity of opinion among the authors and the writers of this
order ; it would be difficult to give any judgment, and to
ascertain whether such or such an opinion is less or more
commonly held, and whether it may fairly be attributed to the
whole order or not.
But if it is a body, the opinions of whose members must be
uniform ; if we find that a doctrine is taught by its most celebrated
authors, by those who are the most accredited in the order, and
with the permission and approbation of the superiors ; if we see
that it is taught, without exception, by those who have written,
ex professo, on that subject, and that the contrary doctrine is not
asserted by any member of the body, we have complete demon-
* There are nearly twenty thousand Jesuits in the world, and fifteen
hundred, or perhaps two thousand in the kingdom. There are, therefore,
according to Zaccarius, about eighteen or nineteen thousand Jesuits imbued
with ultramontane doctrines and the doctrine of murder, even if we should
except all the French Jesuits.
87
Oration that such is the doctrine of the body, and there is
no injustice in attributing it to them. ^
I now proceed to the degree of the General Aquaviva on tyran-
nicide.* What does it say ? That it is not permitted, in any
case, to assassinate kings? No, Messieurs. He says it is for-
bidden, in virtue of holy obedience, to dare to affirm that (all
people) everybody is permitted to kill kings ; for the word, cuique
cannot be understood in any other sense. That phrase " Defendre
d'oser affirmer qu'il est permis a toute personnel — " to forbid that
any one should dare assert that all persons are permitted," — is so
extraordinary in a matter so serious as regicide. It is so con-
strained (if I may use the expression) into a more agreeable
sense than the natural one, that the affectation betrays itself.
They never expressed themselves in that manner, when they have
endeavoured to explain their sentiments dogmatically ; above all,
not when they were to explain good and orthodox opinions.
To say that any action may not be performed by everybody,
• implies, that it may be done by somebody.
But they will say Aquaviva issued this decree, because some of
his fraternity maintained that, in certain cases, it was permitted
to all people to kill kings, and the General wished to prohibit that
detestable doctrine.
I am not unwilling to suppose that such was his intention,
although I find no indication of it in the decree, given in the
edition of Prague. But in that case it was easy to say, that
regicide was not allowable under any circumstances. f
* We are not certain, that we have the decree of Aquaviva, as it was given
originally. It is cut short in the edition of Prague. The Jesuits had never
inserted it in the collection of the ordinances of their Generals, and it has
two dates. Either that of the first of August, 1614, of the edition of Prague,
or that which is given now of the (5th of July, 1610, is false. That confusion
has not been made undesignedly. They wished to make it appear, that the
Parliament of Paris had approved of the decree of Aquaviva, because it had
ordered the superiors at Paris, in his decree of censure of Suarez in 1614,
to warn the General to renew his decree of 1610. It was therefore supposed
that the Parliament was contented with it, arid had approved of it ; but both
the fact and the supposition are false.
f There is in the collection of Prague another ordinance, or decree of
Aquaviva, dated the 2nd of August, 1614, the day after the first decree. It
seems that this date, of 1614, must be false, like that of the first ordinance
88
You are shocked at the revolting expressions of Aquaviva, when
he intends to forbid th^ detestable doctrine to his order, that it is
permitted, in some cases, to anybody to kill kings. He is afraid
of going too far, if he saySj it is never allowed to any person.
He confines himself to saying, that he forbids any one to dare to
assert that it is permitted to every man, etc. I ask whether any
man convinced (as all men should be), that the murder of a king
is never permitted to any man, in any case, would have expressed
himself in that manner.
The assumed precision of the language of Aquaviva is horrible ;
it is unworthy of a man, of a Christian, and of a theologian
accused of religious error ; it serves, as a ground of condemnation
of the system of the Society, and never can serve as an excuse.
Nothing but fanaticism can hope to impose upon the world
by such decrees, by interpretations, distinctions, and discussions,
when it is a question of simple fact. Do they believe or disbelieve,
that it is forbidden to commit a crime ?
Scholastic delirium has contrived to invent means to justify
such horrors ; they say the opposite of a false proposition is true.
Therefore, it is true, that it is not permitted to all the world to kill
kings, because it is untrue, that such an attempt is permitted to
all the world. What logic ! and what morality !
- I ask, what can faithful subjects think of equivocal declarations
on such a matter ; of these insidious precautions, of these proble-
matic phrases, as if it was a frivolous schoolboy question ?
and that the true date of both of them is 1610. The latest of these ordi-
nances forbids provincials to allow any books to be printed in their provinces
on the subject of tyrannicide, unless it had been reviewed and approved at
Home. The book by Suarez had been printed at Coiinbra, without the
permission, or the expressed permission, of the General. The decree of 1614
(of Parliament) , in condemning the book of Suarez, enjoined the superiors to
use all diligence towards the General to induce him to renew the decree of
1610, and also to take care "That no books containing such damnable and
detestable propositions should be brought to light." It must therefore have
been this last decree, that the Parliament of Paris was content to have
renewed, and not the first decree, in which no mention is made of printing
books. At the end of these decrees (2nd Vol. chap. v. p. 6) is an ordinance
of the 13th of August, 1626, given by Witteleschi, General of the Jesuits, in
which he calls to mind the ordinance of Aquaviva forbidding the printing of
books of that kind without the permission of Rome.
89
I admit, that this detestable doctrine was not invented by the
Jesuits. They found it in the scholastic theologians. It was
known in the thirteenth century, from the time of John of
Salisbury. Jean le Petit had broached it before the Council of
Constance ; but the Jesuits are inexcusable for not having abjured
it, and for attempting at this day to make men believe, by dis-
cussions, and distinctions, and interpretations, that it is not the
doctrine of their society at this hour.
I must do the French Jesuits the justice that is due to them by
stating, that they have been more just and more moderate than
any others.
I consent to pass in silence over the memory of the Jesuit
Richeome, Provincial of Bordeaux, who died in 1615 ; of the
Jesuit Hereau, Professor in Paris in 1642, who taught very nearly
this evil doctrine, and the Jesuit Vallee, who spread it in Mans.
I have sought carefully, in making this distinct accusation, for
everything that might tend to their justification.
I have found, and have pleasure in communicating it to you,
two theses of theological decisions of the Jesuits of the College
of Rennes — one of the 9th of June, 1758, and the other of the
17th of June, 1760, in which two or three propositions of the
assembly of the clergy in 1682 are announced and affirmed. I
wish I had such theses from all the colleges of this division.
Another confusion is caused by the ordinance of Aquaviva, which bears
first the date of the 2nd of August, 1614. Witteleschi, in the next page,
dates it 5th of January, 1613 ; but its date is the day after the first— which
is now said to be 1610. The Jesuits alone can explain these discrepancies.
The ordinance of Witteleschi contains a singular motive for forbidding
the members of the Society to write, without revision at Rome, concerning
the power of the Pope over princes, the power to depose them, etc. (Here
the ordinance is cut oft ; it is impossible to know what followed.) "It is,"
continues this general, the worthy successor of Aquaviva, "in order to avoid
occasions of giving offence to any one." " Ut occasioned omnes offensionis et
querelarum preecindantur."
So then it is forbidden for this Society to write or teach that kings are
sovereigns and independent in temporal concerns ; that they cannot be
deposed by the Pope ; perhaps that it is not permitted to assassinate them
for fear of offending somebody ; and, if I may be allowed so to express my-
self, for fear of factious complaints and quarrels, for querelantm after the
word nffensionis can hardly be expressed otherwise.
90
I have not seen the writings in which this wise doctrine is
asserted ; but I suppose, that it is stated and explained as it ought
to be.
But I lament that, when it is question of the sacred persons
of kings, and of principles which tend to the subversion of states,
to find theologians, who are accused of holding murderous doc-
trines, sending us, not to their own works, but to the equivocal
declarations made by their Generals more than a century ago, and
to the declarations made by their brethren sent to the Par-
liaments in 1611, 1626, 1667, and 1710.* And moreover, what
are those declarations? In 1611 Mon. Serviii, proposing to the
Jesuit Fronto, one of the principals of the Society, to acknowledge,
among other things, that no one, either a stranger or a natural
subject of the king, ought to attempt the lives and persons of
kings, for any cause whatsoever-; not even on account of their
moral conduct or their religion. Fronto replied (and Mon. Servin
attests it in his plea,) " That he should not be unwilling to make
such a declaration ; not, however, because he thought the prin-
ciple right and indisputable, but because it was necessary to
* On the 14th of March, 1626, the Jesuits were called into the great
chamher. Messieurs asked them, " Do yon approve of this bad book ? "
Coton, who is the Provincial of the province of Paris, accompanied by three
others, answered, " Far from it, Messieurs ; we are ready to write against it,
and to disapprove of all it states. In proof of this, ten copies of it have
been sent to our house, all of which we have suppressed."
The Parliament— Suppressed : is it your duty to do so ?
The Jesuits — "NVe thought we could not do otherwise.
The Parliament — Why did you not take them to the Chancellor or to the
first President ?
The Jesuits — Messieurs, we are obliged and constrained to do many acts
of obedience, to wliich other ecclesiastics are not bound.
The Parliament — Do you not know, that this bad doctrine has been
approved of by your General at Rome ?
The Jesuits — Yes; Messieurs, but we, who are here do not commit that
imprudence, and we blame it with all our power.
The Parliament — Come now, and answer two questions. Do you believe,
that the king is all powerful in his own dominions ? and do you think, that
a foreign power can, or ought to interfere in them, or that, in the person of
the king, they have a right to trouble the Gallican Church ?
The Jesuits — No, Messieurs, we believe the king to be all-powerful in his
own dominions in temporal concerns.
91
accommodate declarations to the times and places in which we
live."
What kind of justification can the French Jesuits found on
such a declaration ? or on the declaration made by the superiors
in Paris in 1710, at the time of the condemnation of the insolent
history of Frere Jouvenci, in which he attacked the decrees made
against the Jesuits Guignard and Gueret, and the magistrates,
who pronounced them.
It is long since the French Jesuits have ceased to teach in
France the doctrine of murder, but they belong to a body, who
maintain it — to a body, in which the doctrine is common to
all.
The Parliament — In temporal concerns ; speak frankly. Do you think
the Pope can excommunicate the king ; absolve liis subjects from their oath
of fidelity, and give his kingdom as a prey.
The Jesuits — Oh, Messieurs ! excommunicate the long ! ! ! he Avho is the
eldest son of the Church ; he will take good care not to do anything, which
will oblige the Pope to do that.
\?:The Parliament — But your General, who has approved of this book, thinks
all that it contains is infallible. Do you believe otherwise ?
The Jesuits — Messieurs, he who is at Rome cannot do otherwise than
approve of what the court of Rome approves.
The Parliament — But your belief?
The Jesuits — Is quite contrary.
The Parliament — And if you were at Rome, what would you do ?
The Jesuits — We should do like those, who are there.
The Parliament — Come now; do answer the questions you are asked.
The Jesuits — Messieurs, we beg you to allow us to consult together.
The Parliament — Retire into that room.
[They remained in that room for about half an hour, and then returned
to the Parliament.]
The Jesuits — We are of the same opinion as the Sorbonne, and we will
subscribe like the rest of the clergy.
The Parliament — Make your declaration accordingly.
The Jesuits — Messieurs, we very humbly entreat you to grant us some
days to communicate among ourselves.
The Parliament — Go, then ; the court grants you three days.
[During those days the court watched their conduct. It proved that in
the afternoon of the same day they went to the nuncio and remained with
him from two o'clock till seven in the evening in private with the Flemish
ambassador. — (Register.* of the Parliament.}
/
92
But they arc necessarily in unity and community of sentiment
with all the body. But they have never taught a contrary doc-
trine in their books or writings. They have disavowed it. But
>< that was, when they were summoned before Parliament. But they
knew, that their disavowal was not valid without the leave of
their General. They have said, that they were willing to maintain
the contrary doctrine. But then they added that they did not
hold it as certain. But they said it was, because it was necessary
to accommodate themselves to times and places. But they said, if
they were at Rome they would equally maintain the contrary
doctrine to that of France. But they treat the doctrine like those
scholastic opinions, which may be defended either way. But they
have not abandoned the principles, on which that detestable doc-
trine is founded. But tbey have several times caused Buseinbaum
to be printed. They have praised it in their "Journal de Trevoux,"
in 1729. But even those, who have disavowed Busernbaum and
his doctrine have been the very first to exalt it under your own
eyes in this province.
All that can be concluded from the conduct of the French
Jesuits is, that they have executed a little more exactly than
other Jesuits, the decree of Witteleschi of the 13th of August,
1626 : — " Ut occasioncs ojffensionum, et querelarum prcecindantur."
I return to the General of the Jesuits. You have seen, that
the Provincials are obliged to reveal to him the condition of their
provinces, of everything that passes in them, not only among the
members of the Society, but of everything that is done by their
own ministration. You have seen, that the Provincials are to
enter into such details, that the General may know as completely
the affairs, the persons, and the provinces, as if he had been present
himself.
Now, why is it necessary, that the General should have all this
knowledge ? Why is this report to be renewed every month by
thirty-seven provincials ; every three months and every six months
by 1244 superiors of colleges, residentiary houses, noviciates,
missions, professed houses, without including so many councillors,
or consulters of Provincials and superiors ?* The Constitutions
* Number of Reports which the General of the Jesuits receives every
year on the spiritual and temporal condition of kingdoms :—
93
require, that the Provincials and the superiors should make their
report to the General in cyphers, in unknown and disguised
characters. They must have very strong reasons to keep the
subject of their correspondence secret and undiscovered. It is
inconceivable, that religious objects should need to be carried on
in cyphers unintelligible to all, but those who have the key to
them. Such precautions are taken against enemies. Is the system
of the Jesuits inimical to all governments ?
If such were the case, governments would be protecting and
nourishing in the heart of their dominions, a set of men prying into
the concerns of their state and of their religion, in order to report
them to a stranger, who renders no account to any one.
I should like to know, what object can be alleged (I do not say
what honourable object, for there is none), but what excusable
object can be suggested, for all this manoeuvring, this odious
intrigue of espionage and revelation.
Why, for instance, is it necessary that the General of the
Jesuits residing at Rome, should have an exact account of the
number and the qualities of the Congregations at Rennes, or
elsewhere ?
Aquaviva said, that these revelations and reports were neces-
sary for the support and extension of the Society. Is it very
37 Provincials, who must all of them write letters every
month ......... 444 letters.
612 Superiors of Colleges, who must write every three
months ......... 2448 ,,
340 Superiors of Houses of Residence, must write every
three months 1360 „
59 Masters of Novices of 59 Houses of Noviciates, who
must write every three months 236 ,,
1048 Consultors, who must write at least twice a year . 2096 „
Total of Letters of Obligation, without counting private
letters and those of 200 missions and 24 professed
houses ... . 6584 „
6584 divided by 37, which is the number of the provinces, make 177 reports
of each kingdom, and of each province as to the spiritual and temporal
condition signed and verified, which the General must receive each year.
difficult to find out, that such means arc needless to do good, but
very necessary to do harm ; to keep up the spirit of party factions ?
If there was one powerful family in the kingdom, which made use
of only a portion of such means for its own aggrandizement,
the government would soon take offence, and most justly repress
it with severity.
I will suppose the General to be an honest fanatic ; I mean to
say I will suppose him to be a man, imbued really with ultramon-
tane persuasions, like Bellarmine, Saurez, Vasquez, Molina, etc. ;
convinced of the legitimacy of the privileges of the Society, and of
the rights of his own generalship ; penetrated with the greatness
of the institution, and of the divine protection accorded to it. This
is not a supposition that I am making, but a fact which I relate,
and an inevitable fact, because the circumstances must produce it.
But I also suppose (and that supposition is not unexampled, as can
be proved), that in the course of one or two centuries, either
from family interests, the force of circumstances, or owing to
troubles, which possibly may occur, a Pope may hereafter wish
to excommunicate the sovereign of some state in Europe, and to
absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity. In such a case,
what would be the conduct of the eighteen or nineteen thousand
Jesuits scattered over all Christian countries ?
I think the answer will be, that infallibly they will do as they
always have done at all times and in all places ; that which they
have taught in their books that they can do, and ought to do. I
will add, that they will do what French Jesuits cannot fail to do
without disobeying the Pope and their General, and without con-
travening their laws and their actions.
The surest way, or rather the only way, to judge men is to
weigh their interest, their opinions, and their constitutions.
Can pi'otestations of attachment and duty, the ties of country
(if they have one), can these be sustained against the power of
vows of oaths ? Can presumptions reassure us in the presence
of facts : of facts, alas, too true ? On what grounds can we
depend, that they will observe the laws of the kingdom ? Shall
the State be contented, as its only guarantee, with a word, which
they cannot give, and a promise which they cannot keep ?
I propose to themselves to solve this political problem in any
'95
other manner. In such a case under such circumstances, what
would such and such persons do ?
I have supposed the General to be sincere ; but let me now
suppose for a moment that he is not so. Such a thing is not
impossible, and the supposition cannot injure an imaginary
person ; it is only necessary to admit, that at some supposed time,
among ten persons, who occupy a certain position, one may be a
I dishonest man ; if he is ambitious he will be dishonest ; and
enthusiasm often merges in party spirit as men grow older.
Is there any reasonable man, acquainted with the Con-
stitutions of the Jesuits, their institutions for the young, and
the doctrines of the Society, which I have laid before you, who
does not feel alarmed at the facilities, which a General of Jesuits
possesses to intrigue and cabal, and, let us say freely, to conspire ?
A man who has twenty thousand subjects devoted to his orders
by profession and by religious principle, who ought, according to
their constitutions and their vows, to be ready to shed their blood
for the Society; whose consciences, whose genius, whose characters,
and whose tempers are intimately known to him from their
childhood : who are accustomed to the yoke of absolute obedience,
and to regard their General as they regard God, or as Jesus
Christ ; men of whose secresy he is certain ; men, who judge
themselves by the direction of other men, their interests and their
passions ; a despot whose slightest sign is law to them ; whose
written wish is a decree, an ordinance ; who holds in his hands
all the treasures of the commerce of the Society, and who is in-
formed 177 times a year of the condition of all kingdoms, — what
enterprise will such a man not undertake ?
Let us read the histories of all the conspiracies, which have ever
been formed in the world. Consider the qualities, which are
necessary for success in such perilous enterprises, in the chiefs,
who dare to undertake them ; the dangers they have to brave ;
the treasures they must expend ; the pains, the care, they must
take to captivate the minds of the people, and to excite them,
and the springs they have to set in motion, both public and con-
cealed, to effect their purposes. Consider how these dangerous
conspiracies have been formed or failed. You will not find one,
the chief of which, after years of care, has been able to organize
96
his forces with so little danger, with as great advantages, as a
General of the Jesuits can command within twenty-four hours.
And what is quite singular, the least dexterous, the most in-
capable, the most timid of men may execute the work. How
have conspiracies failed to attain their object ? It has been
either from the remorse of some conspirator, or from indiscreet
communications, or a bad choice of accomplices (some wanting
courage, others resolution or activity) ; from the necessity of
employing certain people, who were felt to be not altogether fit
for such undertakings, but whom it was necessary to employ ; or
by too great a number of accomplices.
No one of these inconveniences can overthrow a project formed
by a General of the Jesuits, since out of 20,000 men he can pick out
ten fanatics, honest fanatics, whose capacity is known to him, and
whose hand is sure.
If there are persons affiliated, associated Jesuits, unknown as
such in their own families, or the families in which they are
domesticated, (a fact of which it is scarcely possible to doubt,
although it is very difficult to prove it), of what deep importance
these associations must be !
I avoid all applications ; but what would Cromwell have given
for such advantages ! I do not mean Cromwell after he had con-
ceived his odious design, but Cromwell after the battles of Dunbar
and Worcester.
Now I shall be told, that I am calumniating the General of
the Jesuits ; that such a man cannot be found in the Society.
Very well, I hope not ; but I have said, and I ask again, who
can guarantee that there never will be a man, who wishes to
conspire ?
*- From one fanaticism to another is but one step, I repeat ; and
who can say that in the course of years there may not be a bad
man in any given place ?
And suppose that no General will ever conspire ; in saying that
you allow, that he might if he chose it ; and is it not unwise and
imprudent to allow in any State a power so exorbitant and so
dangerous to exist in the hands of one man ?
I think I have proved the fact which I advanced, that the con-
stitutions and the system of the Jesuits are, when fairly analyzed,
97
enthusiasm and fanaticism established by rule, and on principle;
and that they are based on two false principles, that is, the
sovereign power of the Pope over both spiritual and temporal
concerns ; and on the communication by several Popes of absolute
power to the Society, and through them to the General, their
representative.
I have shown, that from the first principle, the constitutions of
the Society are derived, which arc injurious to the sovereign
majesty of kings, and dangerous to their sacred persons and to
their authority, by engendering a spirit of sedition, and an entire
subversion of public order by pretended Conservators chosen
arbitrarily, and changed in the same way ; a co-active power,
and a jurisdiction over citizens, and even over sovereign powers,
together with the monstrous power of maintaining by deed and by
word everything that is called their privilege, though injurious
to the Church, to councils, popes, and bishops, to the second
order of the Church, and to all the authorities of the State.
I have proved that from the second principle have emanated
constitutions, injurious to the Divine Majesty, transferring to a
man the honour that is due to Almighty God alone, by equalis-
ing the orders of a Superior with the precepts of God and of
Jesus Christ ; affecting, by emphatic expressions, repeated with
affectation, to place on the same level the obedience, due to
either, and exacting the aforesaid sacrifice of understanding and
reason. Destructive of natural liberty of mind and conscience,
they allow no more freedom than is possessed by a stick in the
hand of an old man, or of a corpse, which is turned and moved
as you please. They are opposed to the rights of nature, to
divine right, to the rights of man, and to the rights of all nations,
to the well-being of all nations, and to the security of contracts,
and agreements of private persons. From all this, result rash
vows made in ignorance ; engagements contracted, which shock
reason and arc injurious to religion; vows made to a foreign
sovereign to leave the kingdom at his behest, and which are con-
sequently contrary to the laws of the State.
I have shown, that the institution of members of the Society is
enthusiastic, and leads to fanaticism; and that the education
H
98
which the Society gives to youth in their colleges is insufficient
and bad.
I have proved, that regicide is the ancient and received doctrine
of the Society, and how dangerous it is to states to leave sovereign
and independent power in the hands of any single man.
I desire, in consequence, that the Look written by Busembaum,
better known in this province than elsewhere, from the missions
of Frerc Sulpont at Nantes, should be torn and burnt with the
\ " Journal dc Trevoux," which has eulogised it. If I had all the
other books, named in the decree of the Parliament of Paris of
the 6th of August, 1761, I should make the same request. I
content myself with requiring, that all persons, who have copies
of those works should bring them to the office of the registrar to
be disposed of according to law.
I conclude, by declaring, that in all I have said, I have not
intended to injure any one. "Woe be to him, who, as a public
servant, abuses his influence to the detriment of any indi-
vidual or any body of men. I am bound to speak the whole
truth to you. You have required it, and you expect it from me.
I make no objections to the Society, but those which concern
public order. I attack the system. I pity the individuals. I
have brought no doubtful accusations before you, but the griefs
of human society. I have defended the common cause of the
king and of the State, or rather of all kings and states.
I wish, that the Society should be reformed, because it appears
to me quite impossible, in good morality or in good policy, to
allow its government to remain as it is.
Many councils have sat in deliberation on the subject of
reformations in the Church. The Council of Pisa, those of Con-
stance and Basle, were assembled to reform the heads and their
members. De reformanda cccksid in capite et in mcmbris.
All the world knows what was said by Barthelemi des
Martirs, Archbishop of Prague, at the Council of Trent, " Illus-
trissimi Cat'dinales illusbrissima indigent reformatione." The
greater part of those reforms have been effected. When it is
said, that the Society cannot be reformed, is that an attack
or a defence of it?
If the Society believes, that it has acquired a right to be unre-
99
formable, and that no government has power or strength enough
to resist it, because it has made itself too formidable, that it has
dared the most courageous of Frenchmen, Henry IV., or caused
him to feel fear, let them suffer the punishment, due to men, who
inspire fear, that of ostracism. Let the Society be banished or
dissolved !
But that would be going too far, Messieurs. A whole body
can only be banished for some crime, which is shared by every
individual. The Jesuits are the children of our own towns, our
fellow- citizens, our countrymen. Some of them are of the class
of noblemen, or united by the ties of blood to that distinguished
portion of the State. But if the Society declares itself to be un-
reformable, it should bo dissolved.
Restored to the direction of their own consciences and to the
exercise of their own sense of honour, they will really become
citizens when they cease to be Jesuits. They will rejoice to find
themselves under the dominion of the protective laws of France.
They will bless the hands that have broken their chains. I do
not think, that they are generally so infected with the contagion
of their fanatical institution as not to re-enter joyfully into the
exercise of the liberty, which is authorised by law and by
religion.
In order to determine, whether the existence of the Society
will be useful or detrimental to the Church and State, in future,
we must consider, whether on the whole it has hitherto done
most good or harm, and whether it is fair to ascribe all the good
which has been done by individual members of the Society, to
the credit of the whole body ; as if they would not have done
any good, if they had not belonged to it, and had remained
parish priests or laymen. We must consider, also, whether it
would be just to dispute with the order the honour of having had
illustrious personages belonging to it, who have owed the culti-'
vation of their merits and capacities to their care. That is too1''
wide a question to undertake now.
It seems, that when the question to be considered is, Shall an
order in the Church be suppressed, or shall it be dissolved ? it is
very like talking of the dissolution of the human body ; if the
H2
100
members of the body arc separated, they will certainly be anni-
hilated.
The question might be simplified by asking, Is it most advanta-
geous to the State to destroy or to preserve an order, which forms
a kind of sect in the Church, and a party in the State, which
may become a faction ? Or the question may be reduced to a
still smaller compass by asking, whether, in the present state of
things, all the duties, which are performed by the Society might
not be executed by parochial clergymen with as much success and
less danger.
It is for you, gentlemen, to take such measures on these sub-
jects, as your wisdom will suggest. The good and sincere inten-
tions of the king, whose only wish is, that the laws may be observed,
will rule your determinations, and be considered by me as absolute
commands.
You will represent to his majesty on this occasion, the great
importance of the education of youth in all parts of the kingdom,
and you will know better than I, how to exhort him to reform it.
But in fact his sovereign majesty is never absent from your
courts. He presides at your decrees, and in this august tribunal,
I venture, therefore, to address the following words to his maj esty,
in addressing those who represent him here in the administration
of justice.
Sire, — You know, that your authority is derived from God, and
as the eldest son of the Church, you will respect him who is its
visible head on earth ; but you will not allow the royal dignity,
with which the Almighty has invested you, to be degraded, and
you will maintain with the same firmness as your fathers, the in-
dependence of your crown, which recognises no superior in the
whole world.
You will cause religion to be respected ; you will banish from
your kingdom both the impiety, which assails, and the fanaticism
which dishonours it ; you will oppose ignorance and superstition ;
you will arrest their progress and prevent their fatal effects.
Kings, Sire, have a more immediate interest than any of their
subjects in the suppression of that fanaticism, which respects
nothing, and attacks the most illustrious persons : they are its
peculiar victims.
101
Nothing but a knowledge of past events and a careful study of
them in all their bearings, can rend the veil of excited ignorance
and superstition, which are the real causes of fanaticism.
Nothing but light can dispel darkness.
Your Majesty should reform the education of youth in all the
colleges of your kingdom. It is vicious and barbarous, especially
in the colleges of the Societv. All well-informed and sensible
f-j >>
men are aware of it, and arc agreed on that point. I do not
fear contradiction on this subject from any of those, who en-
lighten literature. Let your Majesty add to the happiness of the
most well-disposed people in the world the advantage of possessing
the best institutions. Protect learning and sciences ; they make
the happiness and prosperity of kingdoms, and shed honour on
the reigns of their sovereigns.
Protect men of learning, Sire, but do not expect solid useful-
ness from any, who do not appreciate the principles of your State
and your Church ; those principles ought to predominate in every
State and every Church in the world, for they are founded on
reason, on natural rights, the rights of man, on Scripture and
tradition. Will you give your kingdom, as rulers and precep-
tors, men whose principles and interests are not those of your
nation, and who by their profession are disabled from taking an
oath of fidelity to your Majesty ? How can they educate youth
to pay to you the obedience which is due to you, so long as they
themselves believe that you owe obedience to another, in the
temporal government of your kingdom. How can they teach our
maxims, who without openly combating them, yet regard them as
scholastic differences, which may be maintained in France, but
which they must not hold in Italy ?
Give, Sire, to the flower of your nobility, who serve you so
gloriously and so faithfully in your armies and in your Parlia-
ments, to the precious hopes of the nation, who will also serve
you on some future day — you and your children, and your grand-
children— give to them tutors, who are attached to your Majesty
and to the State by duty, by principle, and by religion.
Your Majesty has in your universities and your academies men
of great worth and distinguished capacity. They are French by
102
birth and by inclination ; they arc so by principle ; they arc
learned, and they hold the maxims of your State.
Order them to prepare a system of education for all ages and
all professions, and elementary books to fulfil their plan ; you will
protect the edition, and place such teachers in the colleges, as you
may think worthy to perform their functions, and who are worthy
of your choice.
You will add, Sire, to the glory of your august ancestor, who
caused science and learning to flourish, that of establishing them
permanently in your kingdom.
The well-beloved of the nation will become the benefactor of
succeeding generations, and the revival of science will hereafter be,
dated from the reign of Louis XV. as, after an age of barbarism,
it was formerly counted from Francis I.
Cause that in all the countries, lands, and signiories, under
your dominion the Edict of 1682, given under the declaration of
the clergy of your kingdom, shall be carefully executed.
Order that no ecclesiastic, either secular or regular, particu-
larly no member of the Society, called of Jesus, be admitted to
orders without having signed that declaration, an eternal monu-
ment of the fidelity of your clergy, and which will perhaps con-«
tribute as effectively as arms to the safety of the State.
In conclusion, Messieurs, I would refer in support of what I
have said to the epitome made by his Majesty's Ministers for the
Parliament of Paris, of the Constitutions of the Jesuits, and to
the denunciations, uttered by those Magistrates, carefully verified
by Commissioners, and supported by full proofs of the facts
alleged.
I require on the part of the king (and making use of the same
expressions as Mon. Servin on a similar occasion.) I require
" for the safety of the sacred person of the king, and for the good
of the Church and of the State, for the sake of public tranquillity,
; and for the honour and maintenance of learning and science," the
concession of a power of appeal as against abuses ; understanding
as such abuses, the introduction of all Bulls, Briefs, and Letters
Apostolic, concerning the Society calling itself the Society of
Jesus, the constitutions of the same, declarations on those con-
stitutions, formulas of vows; decrees of Generals ; or of general
103
congregations of the said society, and generally all other rules or
regulations and similar acts ; also vows and oaths made by the
members of the same, to submit and conform to the rules of the
said Society. And I ask permission to intimate to the General
and the Society, on the said appeal, as against abuses, the judg-
ment which shall be reported to the court, on all pretended rules,
especially those, which are called verbal oracles, and on every-
thing else, which bears the force of law in that said Society.
I move as the judgment of this Parliament that the book
entitled, Hermanni Busembaum Societatis Jesu, Sacrce Theologies
Liccnciati, Theoloyia Mo mi-is, mine pluribus partibus aucta, d It.
P. Claudio Lacroix, Societati* Jesu, Theologies in Uniccrsitate
Coloniensi Doctorc et Profcssore publtco, cditio norissima diligenter
recognita et emendata ab uno cjusdem Societatis Jesu Sacerdote
Theologo ; Colonize, 1757 ; teaching murderous and abominable
doctrines, dangerous, not only to the safety of the lives of citizens,
but even to that of the sacred persons of Icings ; and the "Journal
•'of Trevoux " of August, 1729, which eulogises that work ; be torn
and burnt at the foot of the great staircase of the palace by the
executioner of justice.
That it be ordered that every one, who has copies of books
teaching that detestable doctrine, composed by members of the
Society of Jesus, and by others, if such should be found ; and,
namely, by Emmanuel Sa, Jesuit, in his Aphorisms ; by Martin
Antoine Dclaio, Jesuit, in his Commentary written in 1689 ; and
others to the numbers of thirty -tic o ; he brought to the Registrar
of the Court to be dealt with also according to law. That all
booksellers be strictly prohibited from selling and publishing the
said books under pain of extraordinary prosecution, and punish-
ment with all severity by the law. Meantime, provisionally, until
judgment shall be given on this appeal, as against abuses, that
all the king's subjects be forbidden (whatever their rank or
quality may be), under the usual penalties, to associate them-
selves with the said priests and other members of the said Society,
in their houses or elsewhere, on the pretence of congregations, or
associations, or retreats ; that it be ordered, that his Majesty's
Edict of 1G82, be well and duly executed in this jurisdiction;
that his Majesty be humbly petitioned to make a declaration
104
commanding that no one he admitted to sacred orders, (and
especially no member of the Society of Jesus), nor he appointed
to any benefice whatsoever, either as parish priest or monk, ex-
empt or not exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary, nor on
the plea of any degrees, obtained by him, unless he shall pre-
viously have signed the declaration of the clergy of 1682, in the
presence of his archbishop or his bishop, or their great vicars ; of
which signature mention shall be made in the act of requisition,
and also in the act of taking possession of each benefice ; — all
under the penalty of nullity of the said acts, in respect of those,
who shall be found to have performed the acts without having
previously signed the said declaration ; and in case any of the
archbishops or bishops neglect to require this signature, that they
be obliged to do so under the penalty of seizure of the temporali-
ties of their archbishopric or bishopric. That it should, moreover,
be ordered that those ecclesiastics who may not have signed the
said declaration, and who may refuse to do so on the occasion of
the visa, or of institution to benefices to which they may demand
to be inducted, be declared incapable to hold them, and that all
benefices which have hitherto been held by such ecclesiastics,
shall be declared vacant or lapsed, and may be presented again in
full right without the need of any formal judgment, or of any
judicial declaration to that effect.
That it be represented to his Majesty how great is the
importance of reforming the colleges of the kingdom and the
education which is given in them. That his Majesty be
petitioned to order his academies and universities to prepare a
plan of education for all ages and all professions ; and to compile
elementary books to carry out their plan, which shall be taught
in all colleges by such masters as may be deemed fit.
That it be ordered that the Decree which will be issued in
consequence of my conclusions be read, published, and announced
in all needful places,
v Given in the Parliament of Eennes, December 7th, 1761.
DE CARADTJC BE LA CHALOTAIS.
I have seen since my conclusions of the 7th of December last,
the books of Bellarmine, Beccan, Pirol, Escobard, Horace
105
Turcelin (all of the Society called of Jesus), deposited in the
Registry Office of the Court, which were communicated to me by
a decree of the 18th of December current.
I demand on the part of the king, that the books entitled : —
Disputationum Roberti Bellarmini Societatis Jesu de Con-
trorersiis Christ iance fidei adi'ersus h-ujm temporis Hereticos ;
Tractatus depotestate Pa-pee in rebus temporalibus ; Libri de Romano
Pontifice ; De translations Imperil Romani, Mediolani, 1721, su-
perior urn permmu ; Martini Beccani, Societatis, de Jure ct Justitia,
Parish's, 1658 ; Apologie pom- les Casuistes, attribute a Edmont
Pii-ot, Paris, 1657 ; Joannis Mariana Societatis Jesu de Rege et
Regis institutione, Moguntice, 1605 ; Liber Theologice Mora /is
i-iginti quatuor Societatis Jesu Doctoribus resereatus quern It. P.
Antonius de Escobard et Mcndoza Vallisoletanus in cxamen Confessa-
liorum digessit, addidit, illustravit, Lugduni, 1659 ; Historic
Sacrce et Prop/tana?, epitome ab Horatio Turcellino, Rothomayi,
1714, et Rhedonis, 1732 ; together with Fmncisci Tokti, Societatis
Jesu Instruct io Sacerdotum, Rothomagi, 1628 ; and with the
books of Herman Busembaum, and the Journal de Trerou.r of the
month of August, 1729, mentioned in my preceding conclusions : —
be torn, and burnt in the court of the palace at the foot of
the great staircase, by the public executioner ; as being seditious ;
destructive of Christian morality ; teaching a doctrine that is
murderous and abominable ; dangerous, not only to the safety of
citizens, but to the sacred persons of sovereigns. That all persons
who possess copies of them be commanded to bring them to
the Register Office to be suppressed. That it be forbidden to
all librarians to reprint or sell, or to distribute the said books, or
any of them, and to all colporteurs, distributors, or other such
persons to carry them about or to distribute them under pain of
prosecution and punishment according to the rigour of the law.
That it be enacted that, 011 my requisition, informations be taken
before Mon. Le Rapporteur of such witnesses as may be found
in this town ; and before the justices of the peace, of all the
officers of justice, and the royal authorities within this jurisdiction,
and by the care of my substitutes in the said courts, evidence
be taken against all those, who may have contributed to the
approval or printing of the said books, or who may retain them
IOC
in their hands ; and also against the printers and distributors of
the said books. And in order to legislate definitively on the
result of the investigation of the said books, and the teachings
contained in them, and of the report, made by myself to this
Court on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December, current, I
request, that an account of the deliberation may be joined with
the appeal against abuses introduced by me, against the Bulls,
Briefs, Constitutions, and all the succeeding acts concerning the
said Society ; on the understanding, that they may be separated,
if the case should fail.
For the rest I can only refer to my preceding conclusions of the
7th of December current.
Done at the Bar this 22nd of December, 1761.
DE CAEADUC DE LA CHALOTAIS.
107
DECREE OF THE PARLIAMENT OF BRETAGNE,
23rd of December, 1761.
Extracted from the Registers of the Parliament.
The following Decrees and Reports were first read and con-
sidered by this Parliament, assembled in their Chambers, viz. : —
The Decree of the 14th of August, 1761, in which this Court
ordered that the superior of the self-called Jesuits of the
College of Rennes, should within three days present at the
Register Office of this Court a copy of the Constitutions of the
Order styling itself the Society of Jesus ; and that the said
Decree should be notified to him on the requisition of the
Attorney- General of the King: — The Notice that was
given to him of the said Decree by Bouchard, Bailiff of
the Court : — The Act of Deposit of the Books made at the
Register Office of the Court by the Frere du Pays, Rector of
the said College of Rennes, on the 15th of August, 1761 : —
Another Decree of the 17th of the same month and year,
which ordered that the two volumes in small in folio,
entitled, " Institution Societati* Jesu," printed at Prague,
anno 1757, should be remitted to the Attorney -General of
the King, who should be ordered to report thereon to the
Court on Tuesday the 1st of December : — The Report, which
was delivered on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December, by
the King's Attorney- General, both of the contents of the
said books, and of the moral doctrine of the self-called
Jesuits : — Another Decree, which was passed on the 7th of
December, by which this Court (after having read the con-
108
elusions of the Attorney- General of the King, left by him
on the Bureau, of the date of the said 7th day of December)
determined to continue the Assembly of the Chambers until
the 10th day of the said month : — The several Decrees of
Adjournment, on the 10th, llth, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16tb, and
18th of December, on the last of which this Court (having
suspended its sittings for several days during the examina-
tion of the institution, and in order to read the propositions
and assertions contained in the works of different and several
authors, belonging to the Society, calling themselves the
Society of Jesus), ordered that the said books should be
delivered to the King's Attorney-General, in order that (if
he should so decide) they might be dealt with according to
law : — Tbe conclusions of the said Attorney-General of the
King, bearing date the 22nd of Ibis month : —The report of
Mon. Claude Guerry, senior counsel of the Court : — These
having all been considered.
This Court in full assembly admits, as far as the occasion
requires, the demands of the King's Attorney- General (appealing
as against abuse) against the Bull beginning with the word
Regunim, given on the 5th of the Calends of October, 1540, by
Paul III., entitled Prima Instituti Societatis Jem dpprobatio ;
another Bull beginning with these words, " Injunctum Nobis,"
given on the eve of the Ides of March, 1543, entitled, " Faculta*
quosris idoncos ad Societatem Jem sine rcstrictione niimeri admit-
tendi et Const it ntiones Condendi; " another Bull beginning with
these words, " E.rposcit debit urn" given on the 12th of the
Calends of August, 1550, entitled, " ConfirmaMo alii Instituti,
cum iiif/jori, turn iflius, turn alionun Societatis Induttorum decla-
ratione;'' another Bull beginning with jthese words, " Sacrce
Religioni*" given on the 31st of December, 1552, entitled
" Confirmatio privileyiorum Societatis concessorum et aliontm nora
cnncessio;" and generally against Bulls, Briefs, and Apostolic-
Letters concerning the priests and scholars of the Society calling
itself of Jesus ; the constitutions of the same ; declarations on
the same constitutions; forms of vows, even of the vows and
oaths made on th$ day of taking the vows ; decrees of Generals,
109
or of general congregations of the said Society ; verbal oracles ;
and generally all other regulations -and similar acts.
This Court thus decrees, especially because the institution of
the said Society is a violation of the authority of the Church, and
of general councils and other councils ; of that of the Holy See,
and of all superior ecclesiastics, and of that of sovereigns ; inas-
much as, on the one hand, by the said constitutions, the General
has absolute power in the said Society, in contravention of
decisions of the said councils, of Bulls issued by the Holy Sec, of
regulations prescribed by ecclesiastical superiors, and of laws
emanating from temporal princes : and, on the other hand, no
power, either spiritual or temporal, has any efficacy in this
Society. To it is attributed the faculty of altering, abrogating,
and revoking its own constitutions, and of giving itself new ones,
according to the exigencies of the times, of places, and of objects,
without being amenable in this respect to any inspection, not even
on the part of the Holy See ; whose authorisation is nevertheless
considered to be invariably attached by right to all the changes
which may be useful to the said Society. This concession having
been granted irrevocably, remains in force even if any act of revo-
cation or reformation should bo made by the Church, or by the
Holy See, or by any other power whatsoever. In such a case the
Society may of its own authority replace itself in its former state, or
as it was at any preceding date, according to the will of the General,
or of its own superiors, without any need to obtain any authorisa-
tion, or consent, or confirmation,* even of the Holy See. Because
* The following extracts from the Bull will prove this :—
"Notwithstanding all Apostolic Constitutions — all Ordinances general or
special, emanating from General Councils or from Provincial or Synodal
Assemblies/'
" And desiring that at no time anything may be revoked, or limited, or
abrogated from the said constitutions by ourselves or by the Holy See : and
that every time it may happen that any article should be revoked, altered,
limited, or restricted in any degree, the superior or General may re-establish
the same to its original state, evon under an anterior date — any date that
the General may please to choose — and that any articles so re-established
shall be considered as granted anew by the Holy See."
'• By our apostolic authority we grant to them, by special favour, the power
and the faculty to c-lwngn, niter, or even to abrogate entirely, according to
110
under the name of the said Society, one single man may exercise
monarchical power over the whole Society* spread over all states,
over all its own members universally, and over all persons living
under its obedience, even over those who might be exempt, or
those who may be invested with any faculty whatsoever ; that
the quality and variety of places, of times, and circumstance, both the con-
stitutions already established and any others which may be made in future,
and to make new ones. And when they shall have been thus changed,
altered, or new ones shall have been made, we will that the whole shall
be considered immediately to have been continued by the same apostolic
authority."
" That no member of the Society should be so daring as to ask any privi-
lege contrary to the statutes common to the whole Society, or to retain them
if they have obtained them. . . . That if such kind of privileges should
ever be granted by the Apostolic See, we declare them beforehand to be null
and valueless . . . unless . . . such derogation of the statutes
was done with the consent of the Society."
" And every time that the Holy See shall issue any letters revoking or
limiting these statutes, we will that as many times they 11133- be re-established
and fully reintegrated to the original state in which they we-ie formerly
placed by the Society, by its General, and its other superiors as if they had
been granted afresh, and confirmed to be as they were at any date that
these superiors please to choose each time, without needing to obtain any
new act of re-establishment, invalidation, confirmation, or concession."
* The founder, St. Ignatius, ruled that the general system of government
i in the Society) should be monarchical, confined to the arbitrary orders of
the superior only.
" The superior shall exercise full jurisdiction over all the members of the
said Society, and over all persons subject to obey him, in whatever place
they may live, even when they are exempted, and whatsoever rights or
faculties they may possess."
" All power of making contracts, purchases, and sales is vested in the
General : and although this General should communicate his power to make
contracts to superior subalterns, or visitors, or to commissioners, he shall,
nevertheless, have liberty to approve or annul any agreement they may
have made."
" Every one of the subjects shoiild not only be obliged always to obey
the General in all things which are regulated by the statutes of the Society,
but they must consider Jesus Christ as present at all times in his person,
and they must have that same veneration for him which is due to Christ."
"The right to command is vested solely in the General. The General may
in all circumstances, make any statutes he thinks fit, and he must receive
the reverence, obedience, and respect due to him who holds the place of
Jesus Christ. '
Ill
power extends itself over the administration of their properties
and the right to make contracts, and to annul those already made,
even under their own sanction. It is so complete and entire,
that while even' member of the Society is obliged to obey
the General as implicitly and blindly as if he were Jesus Christ,
• You must convince yourself that all that is ordered by the superior is the
commandment and the will of God Himself : and. as you believe without
hesitation, with all your heart and all your mind, all that tlie Catholic
Church declares to you. you must also act with the blind impetuosity of a
will eager to obey and perform, without question or examination, all the
commands of the superior, considering that such was the obedience of
Abraham, when he received the command to sacrifice his sun Isaac.
•• Let every one be persuaded that those who live under obedience ought
to allow themselves to be ruled and governed by Divine Providence, that is
to say, by their superiors, with as little resistance a.s a corpse, which allows
itself to be carried where you will, and to be passive in every sense : or like
a rod in the hand of an old man. who uses it in all places and for even" pur-
pose for which he may choose to employ it. '
•• That in us the Jesuits) obedience should always be perfect and com-
plete in all respects. As in will, so in execution, so in mind, accomplishing
all that is required of us with celerity, with spiritual joy. and with perse-
verance, persuading ourselves that all we are commanded to do is rijdit. and
renouncing, with blind obedience, every sentiment and every contrary
opinion which arises in our mil.
•• We declare that the said Society is not bound or obliged to supply food
or suitable entertainment, under whatever name, or for whatever reason, to
those whom the superiors drive from their bosoms, after the three years of
probation, and after the taking of simple vows : even when, during their
sojourn in the said Society, they may have received holy orders, even that
of priesthood, without any ecclesiastical benefice, without patrimony, with-
out any other title than that of religious poverty.'
••"We order all ordinary judges and delegates who may have to pronounce
on this subject to judge so. and not otherwise, depriving them, all and even-
one of them, of all power and authority to give a different judgment, or a
different interpretation, declaring null and valueless any declaration to 1 .
late contrariwise, either with knowledge of the case or i^norantly. whoever
the judges may be. and with whatever authority they may be invested."
'• The Gentral with the advice of his assistants, shall have a right to
make constitutions ha an assembly, preserving always the ri^ht to enact
according to the majority «,f v<>-
• When it is a question of mat- : .Teat importance and perpetuity, the
: number of persons shall be assembled that the General can conveni-
ently convoke : but if it is only a question of small and transitory con-:equ>..-
112
in all things whatsoever, without reserve, without exception, with-
out question or examination, or even mental hesitation ; to carry
into execution anything that he may prescribe, with the same
fulness of consent and submission that they feel in the belief of
the dogmas of the Catholic faith itself ; to be in his hands as
it will be sufficient to assemble those who are present in the place where the
General resides. (Bull Begimini.) The assembly that it shall be indispen-
sably necessary to convoke in order to alter the constitutions or to make
new ones, or for other grave objects, such as that of alienating or destroying
houses or colleges already established, shall be composed, according to the
declaration of our constitutions, of the greatest number of the professed
members of the Society that the General can convoke without very great
inconvenience; but in things that are of less importance the General, assisted
by the advice of his brethren, as far as he thinks fit, has all right to com-
mand by himself alone."
As to their dress, three things must be observed. " 1st. It must be respect-
able, '^nd. Conformable to the usage of the country in which they live. 3rd.
It must be concordant with the profession that we make of poverty; that is,
it would be contrary to that profession to wear silks or costly stuffs : we
should therefore abstain from such, and preserve an exterior of humility
and lowliness, wliich generally tends to the glory of God." (Constitutions,
6th part.) This observance applies to tunes when the establishment is ex-
pected to supply new dresses ; for there is nothing to prevent men when
they enter the Society, from wearing the dress which they have brought
with them, although it may be of the most expensive kind ; nor is there any
objection to give to some members more expensive clothes, if such are
necessary on especial occasions ; but they must not wear such kinds of dress
habitually. "It is also to be considered that all men are not equally btrong ;
their health is not the same, and many are old and weak. The welfare of
such persons must be considered, and the necessities of the multitude, in the
quality of the dress to be given to them ; but all must be ordered, as far as
possible, for the glory of God."
" It must be well understood that everything that bears the appearance
of secular commerce is forbidden to members of our society, whether in the
culture of our fields, in the sale of produce in the markets, or other such
things (Decree <>/ the Second Congregation^). As it has been asked what is
meant by things having the appearance of commerce, from wliich our mem-
bers are commanded to abstain by the twenty-fifth canon of the Second
Congregation, the congregation decided that there were so many things
that it was impossible to specify them. Bitt among others the following
might be named : — 1st. To lure lands, to cultivate for others, for profit or
gain ; which, nevertheless, shall not be observed if the hiring of such lands
is necessary to make our own lands profitable, or to feed our cattle. 2nd.
113
passive as a corpse, or as a stick iu the hands of an old man, or as
Abraham, when, under the command of God, he was ordered to
sacrifice his son, he must persuade himself, on principle, that all
that he is ordered to do is right, and abjure all personal feeling
and volition. And although this absolute authority is extended
To buy produce ill order to sell it again at a profit. They did not think,
however, that it had the appearance of a commercial undertaking to buy
cattle to feed on our pastures, and to sell them afterwards ; nor to buy
necessaries for our own subsistence and to sell afterwards that which we
still had left nnconsumed. 3rd. To pay the expense of printing the works
of our members, and keep the whole edition ; to sell single copies of it at
our own risk of loss or gain although it is not a commerce absolutely inter-
dicted to clerks, it has been thought to be forbidden to our clerks. It has
appeared, therefore, that the General will only allow of it for grave
reasons. -4th. It is forbidden to have printing presses in our colleges ; to sell
to the world generally the books which maybe printed in them. However,
the congregation has left to the General the power to decide whether we may
not have printing presses in the two Indias and in the northern North
America, for books of piety and religion, and for the use of our schools, con-
sidering that in those countries there are neither printers nor Catholics." — -
(Decree of the Seventh Congregation).
" The procureur of the province should carefully avoid every appear-
ance of commerce or of seeking for gain by the purchase or sale of the mer-
chandise that he may import or export by exchange of money or otherwise.
If it should happen that, in conducting his affairs, he made some con-
siderable profit by any means which presented itself to him accidentally
he may dispose of it according to the decision of the provincial, and carry
it to account like all other receipts and expenses."
" In order that our members may not fall into the bonds of sin, it seems to
us proper to declare that none of the constitutions, declarations, nor rules
of life can be so obligatory as to render their violation a mortal sin, or even
a venial ski, unless the superior shall command its observance in the name
of Jesus Christ our Lord, or in virtue of obedience, which he may do either
in respect of circumstances or in respect of persons, when he may consider
this precept suitable for the good of individuals, or for general good."
" The Society, all its members, and all persons belonging to them, and
all their possessions are exempt and free from all superiority, jurisdiction,
and correction of the ordinaries in such sort, that none of those prelates,
nor any other person, can exercise any jurisdiction over them, in any
manner whatsoever, for any offence, either of contract or of any matter at
issue, in whatever place the offence was committed, or the contract was
made, or whatever may be the nature of the question." (Constitutions.)
" "NYe grant to the General the power to sell the properties of the Society
I
114
over all the natural engagements, which in binding its members
to the Society, ought to bind the Society to its members reciprocally,
on the contrary, the Society does not hold itself bound in anywise
to its members, while its members are bound (by their vows) irre-
vocably to the Society. The General may at any time discharge
freely and legally, of abstaining from all prosecutions on that account : and,
even from any cause which he may have against the non-possessor, of citing
the delinquent, of ascertaining simply and without any judicial form, the
utility, the necessity, or any other reason which might make him determine
to sell or alienate these properties, and to decide and execute entirely
(all affairs of that kind) ; and we declare everything null and ineffective,
that any other person, whoever he may be, shall attempt to do against the
decision of the General, whether with knowledge or without knowledge of
the fact." (Bull.)
" We exempt the Society for all perpetuity, all and each of its properties,
in whatever country they be situated, from all tithes, even Papal, real
personal, whether they be quarters, or halves, or any other share of fruits,
from all other subsidies, even for the poor, from all other ordinary charges
imposed even for a limited time for the defence of the country;
or for any other cause whatsoever demanded by emperors, longs, dukes, or
other princes." (Bull.)
"It is ordered that no king princes dukes shall have the
audacity, or the presumption to impose, exact, publish, or even to occasion
on any of our properties, or on our persons, either excise (gabelle)
taxes, collections, or any other imposts, not even for the repair of bridges
or reparation of roads ; and this under pain of excommunication and
eternal malediction, which they incur ipso facto if they do not immediately
desist as soon as they shall become aware of this present privilege. "
(Constitutions?)
" It is not allowed to any prelate to pronounce sentence of excommuni-
cation, suspension, or interdict against any member, whoever he may be, of
this Society, nor even against any other persons on their account. If they
should doit their sentence is null."
" Bishops cannot prevent us from administering the sacrament of peni-
tence from Palm Sunday, till the first Sunday after Whitsuntide."
" We may administer the Eucharist and the other Sacraments of the
Church to the faithful, (provided nevertheless that we do no prejudice to
any one), without the permission of the ordinaries, of incumbents, or of
the superiors of other churches."
" Bishops cannot forbid us generally to preach in the churches of the
Society. All those of whatever condition they may be, who assist at the
preachings of the brothers of the Society, or who may go into the churches
where they preach — may freely and legally on those days hear the Mass,
115
any of them without making any provision for their sustenance,
however urgent their wants may be ; whereas all this is done in
order to secure to themselves the more certain means of exercis-
ing absolute power. The general spirit of their Institution,
followed up in their constitutions, is apparently to establish rules,
the Divine Office, and receive the Sacraments in those churches, and need
not be obliged to go to their parish church for that purpose."
" The Society and each of its members, and even its servants, have the
right in all their causes, whether civil, criminal, or mixed, to choose
between the archbishops, bishops, canons of cathedrals, and judge-con-
servators and ordinaries None of these judges, nor any one of
them thus chosen will permit the Society to be unjustly molested in any
manner whatsoever, by any persons, whomsoever ; whatever their authority
or their dignity may be the judge will reprimand the intruder, the
author of the injury, all opposers and rebels, however otherwise qualified,
by condemnation, by censures, ecclesiastical punishments, and other, suit-
able means by law or by force, which will be without appeal."
" They will not permit that members of the Society shall be molested or
disturbed, either openly or in secret, directly or indirectly, tacitly or ex-
pressly, under any colour or pretext, by any persons whatsoever, whether
they are invested with pontifical authority, royal authority, or any other,"
(Constitutions.)
" It is forbidden in virtue of holy obedience, and under pain of excom-
munication, of incapacity to hold office, of suspension from sacraments, a
divinis, and under all other pains and penalties that the General may please
to inflict, to all persons of our Society, to dare to assert, whether in public
or in private, whether in lessons or in consultations, still less in the books
that they may write, that it is permitted to ALL persons under any pretext
of tyranny whatsoever, to kill kings or princes, or to conspire against
their lives." The General Claude Aquaviva willed that the same penalties
should be incurred, even that of deprivation of their office, by provincials
who should CONFESS that such doctrine had ever been taught by any of those
means without reprehension, and without preventing the inconvenient con-
sequences that must result from it, by taking care that this decree should be
religiously observed. " It is recommended, in virtue of holy obedience, to
provincials not to permit that any of our members should publish in their
respective provinces, or on any occasion, or in any language, books or
other writings in which the power of the sovereign poiitiff over kings and
princes is agitated, or which treat on the subject of tyrannicide, unless the
work has been examined and approved at Rome."
"We forbid, moreover, that any one in future shall treat of this matter,
either in printed books or other writings ; that any one shall dispute on the
subject in public, or teach it in the schools, in order to cut short all occa-
sions of complaint and offence."
l2
116
and yet to have the power, at the same time, to render them
entirely futile, either by other rules of a contrary nature, which
may be found in other parts of the same constitutions, or by dis-
tinctions, and exceptions of all kinds ; and by adding that, in
practice, the members of the said Society are not obliged to fulfil
any of the points, contained in the said constitutions, even under
the head of venial sin, unless they have been especially prescribed
to them in virtue of holy obedience by the superior, who knows
what is suitable to all occasions, and to all persons. So that it
finally rests with the General alone to decide every point that
concerns the Society. By these constitutions, there are granted
to the said Institution all kinds of privileges, even such as would
be absolutely contrary to the rights of temporal and spiritual
powers, to the powers of ordinaries, of pastors of the second order,
of universities and other bodies, both secular and regular. And
if it should happen, that such privileges should be disturbed,
either tacitly infringed, or openly disputed, it is permitted to the
Institution to name Conservators, with the power of employing,
for their defence, all applicable resources of law and force with-
out paying any respect to royal authority.
" If any one of our members should hold different opinions from those
which are taught by the Church and its doctors, he ought to submit his
opinion to the definition of the Society."
" In the opinions in which men differ, and even when there is opposition
of sentiment among Catholic doctors, unanimity must exist in the company."
There must be no difference of sentiment in the Society, whether in
speaking, in preaching, or in public teaching, whether in writing or in the
books which will be published in future, and which cannot be given to the
public without the approbation of the General, who will entrust the exami-
nation of it to three members of the Society at least, conspicuous for their
healthy doctrine, and capable of judging on such a subject."
" No diversity of judgment can be allowed in respect of conduct nor
anything which can in any degree interrupt perfect uniformity and union."
" If any new summary, or book of scholastic theology, more applicable to
the present time, should be written, it may be taught, if approved by the
General."
" Let all follow generally the doctrine that the Society has chosen as the
best and most suitable for us. When each has completed his course of
study, let care be taken that no diversity of opinion should infringe on the
union of charity ; let each one conform, as much as possible, to the doctrine
which is most common in the Society." (Constitutions.)
117
Each of the above-named regulations, namely the obligation
imposed on all the members of the said Society of blind obedi-
ence in executing, and perfect acquiescence in, the will of the
^ General, without questioning or examining the justice of any order
emanating from him ; the extent of the prohibitions contained in
the said constitutions ; the nature of the powers attributed to
the self-styled Conservators ; tend to comprise the safety of
the persons even of kings. Other articles more precisely worded
in the same said constitutions also concur to endanger that safety.
Moreover, every one of the members of the said Society, being
obliged to surrender his own judgment to the definitions of the
same, even on those subjects of doctrine on which they may hold
opinions differing from those held by the Church ; only one form
of belief and one uniform system of morality can exist in the
Society ; that is to say, that, which it will deem most appropriate
to the times and most advantageous to itself.
Because by the said vows and oaths the said self- called Jesuits
submit themselves to the rules and institutes of the said
Society : —
Permission is hereby given the King's Attorney-General to
intimate to the General and the Society of the said self-called
Jesuits that in the appeal as against abuses, the parties will be
heard at the next sitting. That in course of the procedure
all edicts, declarations, or letters patent concerning the Society
will be reported to the court, having been duly verified in the
same ; that all may be conjointly tried, and judgement given, so that
they may be dealt with according to law.
It is ordered that the book entitled " Disputationes Roberti
Bellarmini e Societate Jesu," printed at Ingolstadt in 1596 :
That entitled " Francisci Toleti, Societatis Jesu, Instruct io Sacer-
dotum," Paris 1619 :
That entitled " Opuscula Thcologica Martini Becani, Socictatis
Jesu," Paris, 1633:
That entitled " Joannis Mariance, Societatis Jesu de Rcgc et
Regis Institutionc" in 1605 :
That entitled " dpologie pour ks Casuistes" attributed to
Edmund Pirot, Jesuit, Paris, 1657 :
That entitled "Liber Theoloyite Moralis rir/inti quatuor Societatis
118
JCKU Doctoribna reseralii* qucm 7?. P. Antonius <le Escobar, ft
Mendosa Vallisoletanus, & Societafe Jcxii, Theologus in examen con-
feasariornm digessit, addididit illustramt, Lyon," 1659 :
Those entitled " Hcrmanni Busembaum Tlicologia Moralis micta
a R. P. Claudio Laeroix, Societatis Jem, Lyon c/iez les Freres de
Tournes, 1729, et a Colonge," 1757 :
And that entitled " Historic mcrcz et Prophancp. epitome ab
Horatio TnrceUno Societatis Jesu, Rennes," 1732 :
And that entitled the " Journal de Trevoux" of the month of
August, 1729, because it contains the announcement and the
eulogy of the said Busembaum :
Each and all the said books shall be torn and burnt at the foot
of the staircase, opposite to the great door of the palace, by the
public executioner of justice, as being seditious and destructive of
all the principles of Christian morality ; teaching the abominable
doctrine of murder ; not only adverse to the safety of the lives
of citizens, but even to that of the sacred persons of sovereigns.
It is expressly prohibited and forbidden to all booksellers to
reprint, or sell, or distribute, the said books, or any of them ; and
to all colporteurs, hawkers, or distributors, or others, to hawk them
or distribute them, under pain of prosecution and punishment,
such as the law directs.
It is ordered, at the requisition of the said King's Attorney-
General, that information shall be sought, and witnesses brought
before M. Le Conseillier Rapporteur against any persons in this
town who may infringe this law ; and before the judges of
senechaussees, royal justices, and other royal authorities within
the jurisdiction of this Court ; by the care and diligence of the
official agents of M. the King's Attorney- General, in those places ;
against all, who may have assisted in the composition, editing,
or printing of any of the said books, or who may retain them
in their houses ; and against all printers and distributors of the
said books. This information is sought in order that a definitive
law may be enacted to prevent the consequences derived from
these books, from the continual and uninterrupted teaching of
this doctrine, in the said Society of the said self-styled Jesuits,
and from the futility of their disavowals, declarations, and
retractions, made on this subject. It is ordered that the con-
119
stitutions of the said priest, scholars, and others of the said
Society ; together with the report rendered by the said King's
Attorney-General on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th of the present
month ; be taken together with the deliberation on the appeal (as
against abuse) introduced by the said Attorney- General of the
King, on the Bulls, Briefs, Constitutions, and all other Acts
which have followed concerning the said Society ; it being under-
stood that they may be separated if the case fails.
Meantime be it enacted provisonally, until judgment shall
have been passed on this appeal (as against abuse), and the other
subjects which are joined with it, or until the court shall order
otherwise : — That all the king's subjects, of whatever quality, pro-
fession, and condition, be forbidden, and they are hereby forbidden
to enter into this Society, whether under the pretence of probation,
or novitiate, or for the taking of vows, either solemn or not solemn.
And all priests, scholars, and others of the said Society, are for-
bidden to receive them into it; to assist in their reception, or
in taking of vows ; to write or to sign such acts ; under such
penalties as shall be legal. The same priests, scholars, and
others of the said Society, are likewise prohibited from receiving
under any pretext whatever, into their houses, any members of
the said Society born in foreign countries, and even from re-
ceiving any members of the Society, though Frenchmen born,
who may in future make any vows, either solemn or not
solemn, beyond this kingdom, all under pain of being con-
sidered as offenders against the laws, who will be rigorously
punished, according to the same, as disturbers of the public peace.
Similar prohibitions are also ordered provisionally to the said
priests, scholars, and others of the said Society, from continuing
any lessons, public or private, on theology, philosophy, or the
humanities, in the school, colleges, and seminaries, within the
jurisdiction of this Court, under pain of seizure of their tempo-
ralities, and under such other pains as may be due.
This decree is to come in force on the 2nd day of August next.
Nevertheless if it should happen that the said priests, scholars,
or others, of the said Society, should assert that they have
obtained any letters patent, verified in this Court, to enable them
' to perform such acts of teaching, the said priests, scholars, and
120
others, of the said Society are permitted to present them to this
Court, when in session, within the above named period, in order
that the Court on the sight of the same, and according to the
opinions of the Attorney-General of the King, may order what is
fit to be done. Very express prohibitions are given hereby to all
the King's subjects, from frequenting the schools and missions of
the said self-called Jesuits, after the expiration of the said period.
And it is enjoined on all pupils to leave the colleges of the said
Society, at or before the above named period ; and on all fathers,
mothers, tutors, guardians, or others, entrusted with the educa-
tion of the said scholars, to withdraw them, or cause them to be
withdrawn from the said Society, and to concur with respect to
each of them in the execution of this decree, as good and faithful
subjects of the King, and anxious for his preservation. The same
are forbidden in a similar manner to send the said pupils into any
of the colleges of the said Society, held beyond the juriscUction of
this Court or out of the kingdom. The whole is ordered under
pain to the offenders of being considered abetters of the said doc-
trine, impious, sacrilegious, homicidal, and tending to endanger
the authority and security of the persons of kings. Moreover,
offenders will be prosecuted according to the rigour of the law.
As to the pupils, the Court declares all, who may continue after
the expiration of the said period, to frequent the schools, pensions,
colleges, seminaries, novitiates, and lectures of the said self-styled
Jesuits in any place whatsoever, incapable of receiving any
degrees in the university, and of exercising any municipal or civil
offices, or any public function. This Court postpones till Monday,
the 9th of August next, the consideration of the precautions,
which it may think necessary on the subject of any persons (if
such there be), who may offend against this law.
This Court, wishing to provide effectually for the education
of youth, orders that within three months without further delay,
the mayor and alderman of all the towns within the jurisdiction
of this Court, and all the officials of senechaussees, marshals of
courts, all royal authorities and members of universities, shall,
each separately, send to the King's Attorney- General any pro-
posals or memorials, they think fit, to supply the deficiencies which
must ensue in this matter, and if they should neglect to do so, this
121
Court, all the Chambers being assembled, will call upon them to
answer for the same on the complaint of the said Attorney-
General of the King, on Monday, the 5th of July next.
It is ordered by the Court, that within a month and without
further delay, counting from this present day, the superiors
of the houses of the said Society within the jurisdiction of
this court, shall present letters patent, duly registered in the
same, authorizing the creation or formation of these congregations,
associations, affiliations, retreats, confraternities, or assemblies in
the houses of the said Society, in order that on the sight of the
same, and on the conclusion of the King's Attorney-General, the
Court (the Chambers being assembled) may decree what is found
to be due to them. But if they neglect to do this, and the said
time has expired without any decree being necessary, the said
congregations, associations, affiliations, retreats, confraternities,
or assemblies under any denomination, or on any pretext whatso-
ever, will remain suppressed and abolished. Nevertheless, be it
understood, that from the present time, and by our express
inhibitions and prohibitions, all the King's subjects, of whatever
quality or rank they may be, are forbidden to associate or affiliate
themselves with the said Society, whether by a vow of obedience
to the General of the same, or by any other way. Priests,
scholars, or others of the said Society are equally forbidden, either
to promote or to receive the said associations or congregations ;
all under the penalty of legal and extraordinary prosecutions,
according to the exigence of the case.
The said priests, scholars, and all others of the said Society are
forbidden to endeavour or undertake to withdraw themselves
either directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, from
the complete inspection, superintendence, and jurisdiction of the
ordinaries ; and the Edict of 1682 shall be well and duly enforced
and executed, according to its form and tenor. It is enjoined on
all those, who have copies of the books, teaching the said doc-
trines, written by members of the Society, self-styled, of Jesus,
and by others, if such are to be found, namely, —
By Emanuel Sa, Jesuit, in his Aphorisms:
By Martin Antoine del Rio, Jesuit, in his Commentary written
in 1586 :
122
By Robert Person, otherwise called Andre Philopater, Jesuit :
By John Aqua Pontanus, or Bridgewater, Jesuit :
By Louis Molina, Jesuit, in his Book De Justitia et Jure :
By Alphonse Salmeron, Jesuit, in his fourth volume :
By Gregoire de Valence, Jesuit, in his Theological Com-
mentary :
By the same Alphonse Salmeron, Jesuit, in his thirteenth
volume.
By Charles Scribami, Jesuit, in his Amphitheatre of Honour :
By Jean Azor, Jesuit, in his Moral Institutions :
By Jaques Gretzer, Jesuit, in his book entitled Vespertilio
Hcereticus :
By Jacques Keller, Jesuit, in his book entitled Tyrann'icidium :
By Gabriel Yasquez, Jesuit, in his Commentary :
By Francois Saurez, Jesuit :
By Jean Lorin, Jesuit, in his Commentary on the Psalms :
By Leonard Lessius, Jesuit, in his Treatise T)e Justitia et Jure :
By Adam Tanner, Jesuit, in his Scholastic Theology :
By Jaques Tyrin, Jesuit, in his Commentary on the Holy
Scripture :
By Joseph Jouvenci, Jesuit, in his History of the said Society :
Also another edition of the work of Gretzer, Jesuit, entitled
Vespcrtilio Hcereticus :
By the Montauzan, Jesuit ; by Colonia, Jesuit ; and by other
Jesuits :
To bring them all to the Registrar's Office of this Court, that
they may be dealt with according to law.
It is enjoined on all persons having copies of these works, to
bring them to the Registry Office of the said Court.
It is ordered that the Attorney- General of the King shall
immediately take care to give notice of this Decree to the house
of the said Society, which is in the city of Rennes, and within
fifteen days (at the latest) to all the other houses, occupied
by the said Society within the jurisdiction of this Court, enjoining
them to conform themselves to it under the penalties adjudged.
It is ordered that exact copies of this Decree shall be sent to
the senechaussees and royal courts of this jurisdiction, to be read
there, published, and registered.
123
It is enjoined on the agents of the Attorney-General of the
King to perform the same, and to certify the Court of its execu-
tion within the month.
It is enjoined on the officials of the said courts to attend, each
in his proper office, to the full and entire execution of this present
Decree, which must he printed, read, and published, and hung up
to view in all necessary places.
Done in Parliament, all the Chambers being assembled, at
Rennes, 23rd of December, 1761.
Signed, L. C. PICQUET.
On the 29th of December, 1761, on the rising of the Court,
the books, named in the Decree of the 23rd of this month, were
(in execution of the said Decree) torn and burnt at the foot of
the staircase of the palace, opposite to the great door of entrance,
by the public executioner, in the presence of us, Jean Marie le
Clavier, Esquire, Civil Registrar-in-chief of the Parliament,
accompanied by two bailiffs of the court.
Signed, LE CLAVIER.
124
PERSECUTION OF M. DE LA CHALOTAIS
BY THE JESUIT PARTY.
The following history of the persecution of the M. de la
Chalotais by the Jesuit party is principally derived from the life
of Louis XV.* It will be an interesting and instructive commen-
tary on the previous report ; and will prove how bitterly the
Jesuits felt the justice of what the Attorney-General of the King
of France states as to the lawlessness and implacable cruelty of
the great secret society, which he had unmasked.
When the decrees of all the Parliaments of France authorized
the suppression of the Jesuits' Society throughout the land, the
members of the Order managed to produce great ferments in the
kingdom. Bretagne was greatly agitated by the decision of the
Parliament and by the Report of M. de la Chalotais against the
Jesuits. These regarded him as their most formidable enemy.
Not being able to save themselves from the effect of their conduct,
they endeavoured, by means of the powerful party they had in
Bretagne, to excite trouble, and to organize their factions so
as to effect their re- establishment, or at least to revenge them-
selves. The meeting at Rennes, in the next year, of the States-
General gave them the opportunity. On this occasion the
bishops, under the leadership of the Bishop of Rennes, and
almost all the orders of monks, were in the Jesuit interest, as
well as some members of the nobility. The whole composed a
considerable party, supported and protected by the governor of
the province, who presided at the meetings of the States-General,
and who could dispose of the third estate according to his own
wishes.
The object was to invalidate the Decrees which had dissolved
* " Vie Privee de Louis XV,: " a Londres, J. P. Lyon. 1781.
125
the Society in Bretagne, as being an intrusion on the authority of
the General Assembly of the three states. A feeling of jealousy
was skilfully excited against the Parliament of Bretagne, and
thus was brought about a collision of one part of the nation
against the other. The partizans were very much excited.
Nobles and gentlemen proceeded to menace each other in the
theatre (as their hall of assembly is called). The Duke of
Aiguillon, the governor, who ought to have interposed to silence
these excesses, sat silent, conducting himself in a manner that
encouraged them. They came three times to the charge. They
read clandestinely letters, true or forged, said to have been written
by the late Dauphin, to move their minds in favour of the Jesuits ;
and if the course of these disputes had not been interrupted, they
would probably have excited a civil war, which might have
spread all over the kingdom. Mon. de la Chalotais, stirred up by
patriotism, and unwilling to see a work undone of which he had
been justly proud, stemmed the torrent of these troubles which
the governor (alternately protecting and protected by the Jesuits)
was exciting in their favour, by apprizing the Duke de Choiseul*
of the object of their combined manoeuvres, which once understood
became powerless. But tbe Jesuits thought they had gained a
great advantage by making the quarrel personal between the
Dukes of Aiguillon and Choiseul.
There were complaints all over the country about the high
roads ; the magistrates took them into consideration. Unfor-
tunately the same parties combined themselves who coincided
in the question of the Jesuits. The Controller- General took a
part. Magistrates were accused and dismissed, and calumniated,
and the Jesuit party prevailed. Mon. de la Chalotais had opposed
their plans, and they, being masters of the field, resolved to ruin
him. In the middle of the night, 10th and llth November, 1765,
De la Chalotais and his son, and three magistrates, who had been
deprived of their offices, were carried away by an armed force in
a most scandalous manner, and the king himself was stated to be
his accuser. M. de la Chalotais and the others had been repre-
sented as enemies to the royal authority and public tranquillity.
It was said that they had formed illicit associations, and enter-
* At that time, Prime Minister of Louis XV.
126
taincd suspicious correspondences; and that, not satisfied with
libelling persons, attached to royalty and the service of the king,
they had published writings composed in a domocratic spirit, and
held seditious discourses in public, and had sent anonymous
letters to the Court, injurious to the person of his majesty, and
dangerous to his safety.
On these vague accusations, groundless and monstrous, pro-
ceedings were commenced against them. We cannot follow that
account fully; but it was suddenly resolved to reconstruct the
Parliament, and to obtain letters patent to establish a Royal
Commission at St. Malo. We are not informed respecting all
their proceedings; but under a new court and a new code of
laws, M. de la Chalotais was tried for treason, and was con-
demned, and all was arranged at Versailles for the departure of
the Commissioners. An executioner actually departed for St. Malo
to execute him in the citadel, when the vigorous remonstrances of
the Parliament of Paris occasioned a salutary remorse in the
mind of the king. Choiseul came in when the king was doubtful
and agitated, and succeeded in persuading him to revoke the
sentence for the execution. The Parliament of Paris desired to
take cognizance of the cause of the troubles in Bretagne, and the
prisoner was sent to the Bastile in 1766. They declared him
innocent ; but he was still in prison in 1770. Then the king
held a Court of Justice. At that time the Parliament of Bretagne
had accused the Duke d'Aiguillon* of great malversations and
offences. The king now made a speech, and said that the Parlia-
ments of Paris and Bretagne had accused the Duke d'Aiguillon
of malversations ; that he had resolved to examine the case him-
self; that having been shocked and offended on rinding that
his own royal mandates had been discussed like other Acts in so
disrespectful a manner by the Parliament, he had laid the matter
aside, and desired that the affairs of Bretagne should be spoken
of no more. He annulled all that had been done against the
Duke d'Aiguillon, on account of his lawless conduct in order to
support the Jesuits ; and he quashed all the proceedings against
* The Duke d'Aiguillon was the heir of Cardinal Richelieu, and
Governor of Bretagne.
127
the Sieurs de la Chalotais and Caraduc. He ordered that the
whole affair should be treated as if it had never taken place ; and
that no one was to speak of it, or revive it in any way whatever.
He commanded every one to keep absolute silence on that subject
for ever.
M. de la Chalotais's son succeeded him in his office, and he
died at an advanced age, at Rennes, on the 14th July, 1785.
The patience with which he had borne his imprisonment, and his
courage in upholding freedom of speech and of religion, rendered
him worthy of grateful remembrance by his countrymen and by
all who value the privileges for which he strove. Ho wrote
-'memoirs of his life, and an essay on national education.
128
APPENDIX.
CARDINAL WISEMAN ON THE ABBE DE LA
MENNAIS.
[Extracted from " The Recollections of the four last four Popes," by H. E.
Cardinal WISEMAN. Hurst and Blackett, 1858.]
(!N describing the examination of a candidate for theological
honours in Rome in 1825, Cardinal Wiseman writes, p. 302) :
" I remember well the particular instance before my eyes, that a
"monk clothed in white glided in and sat down in the inner
" circle ; but, though a special messenger was despatched to him
" by the Professors, he shook his head, and declined to become
" an assailant. This monk was Cappellari, who, in less than six
"years after, was Pope Gregory 16th. He had been sent to
" listen and report. Not far from him was seated the Abbe de
"La Mennais, whose works he so justly and so witheringly
" condemned. Probably it was the only time they were ever
" seated together, listening to an English youth vindicating the
" faith of which one became the oracle, the other the bitter foe."
After referring to the probability, that if Dr. Baines, Bishop
of Siga, and coadjutor of the English western district, would
have been made a Cardinal in 1826-27, if he had not died, and that
Pope Leo 12th was believed to have thought of Dr. Lingard for
that honour, the Cardinal writes (p. 335) : " But beyond this
"circle, where Dr. Lingard was known and appreciated, it
" certainly was not so (thought) ; but a very different person was
" then and ever afterwards, and is still, considered to have been
" the subject of the Pope's reservation.". . . .
129
" Tliis was the celebrated Abbe de La Mennais. As has been
" said, he had been to Rome in 1824, and had been received
" with the most marked distinction by the Pope. He was then
" in the splendour of his genius, arrayed not only on the side of
"faith, but of the highest Roman principles. The boldness of
" his declarations on doctrine, the independence of his tone in
" politics, the brilliancy of his style, and the depth of thought
" which it clothed, put him at the head of religious champions
" in France. He had undoubtedly assaulted the flying rear of
"the great Revolution, the indifference which lingered behind
"it by his splendid ' Traite sur 1' Indifference en Matiere de
"Religion;' he had next endeavoured to beat back from occupy-
" ing its place, what he considered had led to that fatal epoch
" and its desolating results, a kingly Gallicanism. This he had
" done by a treatise less popular indeed, but full of historical
" research and clearness of reasoning, ' La Doctrine de 1'Eglise
" sur 1'Institution des Eveques.'
" It was to this work that the Pope was considered to allude.
" The text of the allocution is not accessible, but it was thought
" to allude to this book with sufficient point. So matter-of-fact
" was the book, so completely the fruit of reading and study,
"rather than of genius and intellectual prowess, that it has been
" attributed to a worthy brother, who survives the more brilliant
"meteor now passed away, in a steady and useful light, &c
" Be this as it may, the more celebrated brother has his
" name on the title-page, and had well-nigh won its honours ;
" and then he was gathering round him an earnest band, not
" only of admirers, but followers, so long as he cleaved to the
" truth. Never had the head of a religious school possessed so
" much fascinating power to draw the genius, energy, devoted-
" ness, and sincerity of ardent youths about him ; never did any
" one so well indoctrinate them with his own principles, as to
" make them invincible even by his own powers. He was in this
" like Tertullian, who, when sound of mind, prescribed medicines
"too potent for the subtle poisons which he dealt out in his
" heterodox insanity : both laid them too deep, and made them
" too strong to be blasted even by their own mines, &c.*
* This appears applicable to the Comte Montalembeit.
K
130
" But in him there was long a canker deeply sunk. There
" was a maggot in the very core of that beautiful fruit. When,
" in 1837, he finished his ecclesiastical career by his ' Affaires
" de Rome/ the worm had only fully writhed itself out, and
"wound itself, like the serpent of Eden, round the rind. But it
" had been there all along, &c. Often has one heard good men
" say in Rome, what a happy escape the church had experienced
" from one, who turned out so worthless !"
THE ABBE DE LA MENNAIS ON THE ORDER
OF JESUITS.
[Extract from "Les Affaires de Rome," by M. L'Abbe de La MENNAIS.
1837.]
[THE first part of this Extract is a repetition of what was
published in the " L'Avenir," a journal of which the editors
were (see p. 83,) the Abbe La Mennais, the Abbe Gerbot, the
Abbe Robacher, the Abbe Lacordaire, P. de Poux, Ad.
Bartels, The Comte Montalembert, Daguerre, and d'Ault
Dumenil. The Pope disapproved, and the Church and the
French Government seized and suppressed its publications.
On the accession of Gregory the 16th to the Pontificate (he
had been a Jesuit) in February 1821, three of the editors went
to Rome to present a memorial to the Pope, to declare their
opinions, and ask his approbation. These three were (see p.
115) the Comte Montalembert, Lacordaire, and La Mennais.
(Page 22.) "But the animosity of the Jesuits was of older
"date. They never forgave the following passage in one of
" our publications : ' This is neither the time nor the place in
' which we ought to judge the company of Jesus, and to seek
'for truth, pure but severe, amidst the calumnies invented by
'hatred, or panegyrics inspired by enthusiasm. Nothing can
cbe more absurd, more iniquitous, or more revolting than the
131
'greatest part of the accusations of which they have been the
' objects. No part of society can be found, whose members
' are more worthy to be admired for their zeal and respected
' for their virtues : still we are not of opinion that this institu-
' tion, so holy in itself, is at present exempt from defects and
'inconveniences, of a very serious nature, and that it is
' sufficiently in accordance with the actual state of the world,
' its feelings and its wants : but we repeat, this is neither the
' place nor the time to argue this great question ; and we should
'feel the deepest sorrow if any word should fall from us, which
' could afflict these venerable men at the moment, when
'fanaticism and impiety are persecuting the whole Church
' through their name.' : When they shall have left this trans-
itory scene, Jesuits will become nothing but a subject for
history, and its impartial judgment will be obliged to treat
them with more severity than we will exercise towards
them. If we should endeavour to define the peculiar charac-
teristic which has distinguished this society from its first
formation, and which has rendered it constantly the object of
so much praise and so much blame, we believe it will be found
in its original principle of the abnegation of individuality on
the part of each of its members, in order to augment the
strength and the unity of the body. Among the Jesuits,
action, and even thought, is subjected to obedience, and
absolute obedience. One chief, called their General, and a
few assistants, compose the whole government of the Company.
They are its reasons and its will. The rest follow passively,
blindly, the impulse that is given to them : nothing is more
forcibly inculcated by the precepts of the founder than is this
entire abnegation of self ! Such is the sacrifice required from
each candidate for admission ; and what is the consequence ?
Man may try as he will, it is impossible for him to abjure
himself to that degree : his most sincere endeavour for this
purpose ends merely in a transfer: he can only displace that,
which he endeavours in vain to destroy ; his whole being is
only transported into the complicated existence of the society
of which he is a member, with which he united, and into which
he has fused himself. In it he lives ; he loves himself in it
K 2
132
uloiie ; and that self-love becomes his first duty, and it becomes
more ardent and more active, because it is the only vent,
which his conscience allows him for the gratification of his
own satisfaction ; and because this being now wholly under the
direction of the commands, which have become his only law,
unless they should be in direct violation of the laws of Grod, he
has become divested of moral responsibility. Thus, the passions
restrained by severe laws, inasmuch as they concern himself,
are to him hallowed, but not destroyed or corrected. They
pass after a fashion into the service of the body, which directs
and employs them to gain its own ends : if its objects are good
and honourable, such will also be the aim of each member.
But the motive which impels them all is the aggrandizement
of the society in reputation, power, wealth, or glory. There
is no personal, but great collective ambition ; no personal desire
for wealth, but a cupidity and a collective pride that knows no
bounds. This renders the society somewhat anti-social. One
man, so concentrated in self, would be .a model of egotism, and
whatever might be his object, he would be a unit separated
from the human race ; and such is the Society of the Jesuits :
they have an existence apart. Meddling with every thing, they
belong to nothing. They raise an undefined but insurmountable
barrier between themselves and humanity. They may be touched
at all points, but they never unite ; and this is one of the causes
of the feeling of vague suspicion, with which they have, always
been regarded.
The effect of this innate ceaseless desire to obtain influence
has been to render them often unscrupulous as to the means
of obtaining it, and has rendered them liable to the imputation
of seeking universal dominion. We believe that the dominion
they desire to establish is Catholicism, but that this dominion
shall be exclusively of their creation ; and whoever should in-
terfere in the mission, they have allotted to themselves, and does
not humbly range himself under their direction, excites their
jealousy, becomes obnoxious to them, and they subject him to a
thousand tracasseries and accusations, which they will remorsely
sustain against him.
As these men cannot reign in their own society, or exercise
133
upon it the influence they may desire, either by science or by
intellect, they endeavour to act out of it ; they endeavour to
circumvent men in power ; they steal about kings, and their
ministers and favourites, and try to reign through them. To
gain them, they intrigue, and fawn, and flatter, and learn to
creep rather under the earth than upon the earth, and wind and
double in every sense, in order to govern the world by using the
sceptre of the masters, &c.
Between the despotism they live under, and the despotism
which they exercise wherever they can, there is a secret attrac-
tion, a natural interchange of sympathy, &c.
Never did any one arriving at Rome on important business
meet with a less favourable reception.* The Court of Rome does
not generally act thus by accident, by caprice, or from mere im-
pulse. Let us explain what occasioned this.
For twenty years consecutively we employed ourselves to
defend the spiritual power of the Pope, and, to speak frankly,
we do not think the cause suffered in our hands. Witness
the decay of Gallican principles among the Catholics of France
now,f compared with the opinions which existed forty years
ago. So long as we confined ourselves to the defence of the
spiritual power of Home, without committing herself to an open
approbation, she encouraged our efforts and applauded their
success ; and in vain did diplomacy, when our work " On the
progress of the Revolution " appeared, solicit some words that
might be construed into disapproval or disavowal ; they were
refused.
But so soon as we declared wishes which might militate
against the system, with which the temporal interests of Rome
are connected, and that action had given weight to our wishes,
the former benevolence with which we had been regarded, was
succeeded by lively irritation.
* See p. 115. t In 1837.
134
GALLICAN OPINIONS.
Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance.
[The book from which the extracts now published have been made are in
the Office of the Protestant Alliance, 7, Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, London,
and will be produced to any one who desires to verify them.]
" Ext raits des Assertions Dangereuses et Pernicieuses, fyc.,"
published by the command of the Parliament of France, and
presented to the King, March 5, 1762. This collection of ex-
tracts, from 147 Jesuit authors of celebrity, was collated and
verified by Commissioners appointed by the French Parliament,
consisting of five Princes of the blood, four peers of France,
seven presidents of the court, thirteen councillors of the grand
chamber, and fourteen other functionaries. The decree states
that the object of the extracts was " to prove to the king the
" perversity of the doctrine, constantly maintained, and without
"interruption, by the priests, scholars, and others, styling
" themselves of the Society of Jesuits, in a multitude of works
"reprinted a great number of times, in public theses, and in
" lesson books (cahiers) for the young, from the origin of the
"said Society to this very moment, with the approbation of
" theologians, the permission of superiors and generals, and the
" eulogy of other members of the said Society : a doctrine, the
"consequence of which would be to destroy the natural law,
" that rule of life which God himself has written in the heart
" of man ; and, as a natural result, to break all the bonds of
" civil society, in authorising theft, lying, perjury, impurity the
" most criminal, and, generally, every passion and every crime,
" by teaching secret compensation, equivocation, mental re-
" servation, probability, and philosophical sin ; to destroy every
" feeling of humanity among men, by favouring homicide and
" parricide ; to annihilate the royal authority and the principles
" of subjection and obedience, by degrading the origin of this
" sacred authority, which came from God himself, and by
135
" altering its nature, which chiefly consists in the entire in-
" dependence of every power upon earth ; to excite by the
" abominable doctrine of regicide in the heart of faithful subjects,
" and, above all, of those, who compose the French nation, most
" lively and well-founded alarms for the safety even of the sacred
" person of the kings, under which they have the happiness to
" live ; in fact, to overturn the principles and practice of religion,
" and to substitute in its stead all kinds of superstition by favour-
" ing magic, blasphemy, irreligion, and idolatry."
(Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance.)
M. Gfarnier Pages thus describes the Jesuits : — " In every
Italian town, as in every European nation, there was, during
1848, a general rising against the Company of Jesus, whose
interference in the domain of politics has never ceased to be
of the most active kind. In the eyes of the people they exist
wherever despotism exists, and disappear wherever liberty appears.
Auxiliaries of absolute kings, they are the adversaries of all pro-
gress. They maintain ignorance, and oppose light. Devoted
to the past, they are the enemies of the future ; so much so,
that were it possible, they would even prevent time from
advancing. They know but one law, one faith, and one
morality ; and that law, faith, and morality, they call authority.
To a superior they submit life and conscience. To their Order
they sacrifice individuality. They are neither French, Italians,
Germans, nor Spaniards. They are not citizens of any country.
They are Jesuits only. They have but one family, one fortune,
and one end, and all three are included in the word Com-
munity."*
In England,, and other countries, the Jesuits exist under differ-
ent names, such as the " Adorers of Jesus," " Redemptorists"
* Quoted in the Moriiiinj St«r. April la, 1861.
136
"Brothers of the Christian Doctrine," "Brothers of the Congrega-
tion of the Holy Virgin,"* " Fathers of the Faith" " St. Vincent
de Pmd,"-f etc. The Jesuit has adapted himself to the customs,
habits, and even religion of the people of a country in order to
promote the object of his society. " In a Protestant country he
is a Protestant ; in a Catholic country he is a Catholic ; and in a
Mussulman country he is a Mussulman."^:
One of the most powerful and dangerous of these affiliated
Jesuitical Societies is that of St. Vincent de Paul ; it has its
branches in all parts of the world, and is computed to comprise
700,000 members.^ Its object is ostensibly to benefit the poor ;
but it is, in fact, a religio -political organization. It has its local,
central, and general councils ; quarterly meetings, conferences,
fetes, and pilgrimages ; it has passports and circular letters for
its members. [| It adapts itself to all classes and conditions —
addresses itself to the scholar, the soldier, the mechanic, the
apprentice, the labourer, to the mother and the daughter, for all
of whom it issues a suitable publication.^
This body, which has proved to be dangerous to the well-being
of every State in Europe, is putting forth prodigious efforts in
this country, and, notwithstanding the law forbids the residence
of Jesuits in England,** numerous affiliated societies, together with
a provincial of the order, exist here in defiance of the law.
* Startling Facts, p. 5, published at the " Express Office," Galway.
f Lea Jesidtes, by Charles Habeiieck, Paris, 1860, p. 22.
J Ibid, p. 7. § Ibid, p. 30. || Ibid, p. 28.
^ Ibid, p. 27. ** 9 Geo. iv. c. 7.
137
FREDERICK THE GREAT OF PRUSSIA AND THE
JESUITS.
[Extracted from the History of the Jesuits, by Gr. B. NICOLINI.—
H. G. Bohn, London, 1854.]
CHAPTER XVIII. 1773 — 1814. — THK JESUITS DURING THEIR
SUPPRESSION. (Page 422.)
THE Brief of Suppression, as our readers may have seen, made a
provision by which the Jesuits might, as secular priests and indi-
viduals, exercise sacerdotal functions, subject of course to the
episcopal authority. In consequence, some few of them had settled
themselves quietly in different capacities ; others thought to con-
ceal the Ignatian device under the new title of Fathers of the
Faith, Fathers of the Cross, etc., but the greatest part, the most
daring and restless, would not submit to the Brief of Suppression,
impugning its validity in a thousand writings, called in question
even the validity of Clement's election, whom they called parricide,
sacrilegious, simoniac, and considered themselves as still forming a
part of the still existing company of Jesus, regardless, as we have
shown they always were, of the injuries they may cause to the
faith, they declared war against Rome, against the Church, and
surpassed even the school of Voltaire in audacity, in mocking, and
insulting a virtuous Pope.* Although overwhelmed on every side,
they were not daunted, and their courage was still greater than
their misfortunes ; driven from those countries, in which they had
been nurtured and cherished, and which ought to have been their
natural abode, they turned their regard to the camp of their former
enemies ; as Themistocles seeking protection from his ungrateful
country under the canopy of that Persian throne, which he had
shaken and almost destroyed, so those fiery persecutors of all
religious sects, which were out of the pale of Rome, and especially
* St. 1'hebt, p. Of.
138
of the Lutheran, had recourse for protection to the Lutheran
Frederick of Prussia, and to the schismatic Catherine of Russia ;
and we do not hesitate to advance, that had those monarchs,
in exchange for some advantages and privileges, asked of them
to comhat the Papal doctrines, they would not have imitated
the Athenian hero, but would have fought against the Roman
Catholic religion with the same ardour which they had employed
on defending it. ...
We have already seen that Ricci (General of the Jesuits) in his
examination confessed that he was in correspondence with his
Prussian majesty ; and it is a fact that Frederick, even before the
suppression of the Society, proved himself its friend and protector,
notwithstanding the reproaches and sneers of his friends and
masters, the Philosophers. D'Alembert, above all, assailed the
king in all his vulnerable points, but in vain, Frederick remained
firm in his purpose of supporting the Jesuits. "They say," wrote
D'Alembert on the 16th of June, 1769, to his royal friend, " that
the Cordelier, Ganganelli, does not promise sweetmeats (poires
molles) to the Society of Jesus, and it may be that St. Francis of
Assisi may kill St. Ignatius. It appears to me that the Holy
Father, Cordelier as he is, will commit a great blunder in thus
disbanding his regiment of guards out of complaisance to the
Catholic princes. It seems to me that this treaty resembles much
that of the wolves with the sheep, which were obliged by special
condition to give up their dogs, every one knows how they fared
for this ; however, it will be singular, sire, that while their most
Christian, most Catholic, most Apostolic, and most faithful
Majesties endeavour to destroy the grenadiers of the most Holy
See, your most heretic Majesty should be the only one who wishes
to preserve them."
This letter was written, as may be seen, before the Suppression,
and many other missives were addressed to Berlin by D'Alembert
after the Brief was issued. When the Jesuits of Silesia, refusing to
obey the Papal orders, remained in their convents and houses as
before, and acted as if nothing had happened, D'Alembert on the
10th of December, 1773, wrote to Frederick, telling him that he
wished that neither he nor his successors might ever have cause to
repent of granting an asylum to intriguers, and that these men
139
might prove more faithful than they had been in the last war in
Silesia. Another time, sneering at Frederick's condescension, he
says, " That he much doubted whether the Jesuits would ever pay
his Majesty the honour of admitting him to their order as they did
the great Louis XI V., though he could well have dispensed with
it ; and the poor miserable James II., who was much more fit
to be a Jesuit than a king." January 1774. And passing from
personal arguments to more general considerations, he says, " It
is not on your Majesty's account that I dread the re -establishment
of these formerly self-styled Jesuits, as the late Parliament of
Paris called them. What harm, indeed, could they do to a
prince whom the Austrians, *the Imperialists, the French, and
the Swedes united, have been unable to deprive of a single
village ! But I am alarmed, sire, lest other princes who have
not the same power that you have to make head against all
Europe, and who have weeded out this poisonous hemlock from
their gardens, should one day take a fancy to come to you and
borrow seed to scatter their ground anew. I earnestly hope your
Majesty will issue an edict to forbid for ever the exportation of
Jesuitic grain, which can thrive nowhere but on your dominions."*
Frederick remained unmoved ; and when the Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Breslau, thinking it was his duty to see the orders
of the Holy See obeyed, attempted to interdict the Jesuits, the
king interfered, confiscated the bishopric, and haughtily pro-
claimed that the Fathers were under his protection. Then all
throughout Silesia sprung up a great number of houses and
colleges, and the Jesuits assembled here from all quarters ; it
was on this occasion that the old Voltaire, laughing at his
quondam disciples' strange conduct, exclaimed that " It would
divert him beyond measure to think of Frederick as General
of the Jesuits, and that he hoped that this would inspire the
Pope with the idea of becoming Mufti. "f
Pages 427, 428. The accurate and impartial historian of the
fall of the Jesuits, in an admirable chapter, explains the conduct
of Frederick, in supporting the Jesuits, by the fact that the
Prussian monarch had got angry with the Philosophers, when
* D'Alembert to Frederick, April 24, 1774. f St. Priest, p. 144.
140
the latter, uot content with attacking the Christian religion, set
to work to destroy monarchy, and ridicule every noble sentiment,
which had till then been held sacred. He says that not only
Frederick, but almost all the ministers of other 'princes, if not
the princes themselves and the aristocracy, far from restraining
the audacity of the Philosophers, had, to follow the fashion,
made it a point of honour to encourage and to protect it, while
attacking religion and priestcraft ; but when they (the Philo-
sophers) leaving the churches and cloisters, penetrated into the
antechambers and state-rooms, and their attacks became personal,
then the great world, who had treated Christ and His Apostles
with irreverence, would not endure* the like towards themselves.
He says, moreover, that when the school of D'Holbach produced
the too famous work the " Systeme de la Nature," Frederick's
indignation knew no bound. In this book, in fact, written by
thirty clever, daring, and excited individuals, nothing was left
standing : " Each of them found something to take to pieces ;
one began upon the soul ; another the body ; one attacked love,
gratitude, conscience : all subjects were examined, dissected,
disputed, denied, condemned loudly without appeal. It was a
kind of Old Testament, which prefigured the New by types and
symbols Frederick read this hideous but prophetic book ;
a fatal light gleamed across his mind, and made him dread
the future." * All this is admirably well said ; and by the
answer, which the King of Prussia made to the " Systeme de la
Nature," it clearly appears, that Frederick would not go the
length of the new school, and wished to have nothing more to do
with them.
CHAPTER XIX., page 436. — RE -ESTABLISHMENT.
[The Author, after describing the indiscreet haste of the
restored Sovereigns of Europe in 1814 to obliterate all traces
of the Revolution, thus continues : — ]
. . . . " The Jesuits, skilful in profiting by every circumstance,
then stepped forward and offered to those sovereigns their uncon-
ditional services. Already after their suppression, and during the
* St. Priest, p. 155.
141
ascendant march of the French Revolution, they with infinite
address had persuaded the different sovereigns, either menaced
on their thrones, or already hurled from them, that their over-
throw, the crimes, which it is unfortunately true, in a moment of
delirium had been committed in the name of liberty, the impious
and subversive doctrines which had invaded Europe, and extin-
guished every sense of morality and religion, all were to be
attributed to the suppression of the Order. They asserted that
the Encyclopedists, after the destruction of the Society, the
surest bulwark of the throne and the altar, finding no more
opposition, and passing from theory to practice, had caused the
revolution and set the whole of Europe in a blazing conflagration,
and this is even now repeated by the Fathers and their partisans.
We must, before proceeding any further, give the answer Gioberti
makes to their assertions. He grants that the Encyclopaedists did
make the revolution, " But," says he, " the Society by altering
and disfiguring, in the opinion of many, the Catholic faith, the
morality of the Gospel, the authority of princes, and all those
fundamental laws which form the bases of all states and govern-
ments, in fact, by substituting for religion their own sect, had
shaken all principles of morality, religion, and good government,
and had, indeed, brought the Encyclopaedists into existence,
the most conspicuous of whom, in fact, as Voltaire, Diderot,
Helvetius, Marmontel, St. Lambert, Lametrie, and many others
had issued from Jesuitical colleges, or had had Jesuits as their
tutors."*
* Vol. III., p. 30.
HOW THE JESUIT LEAVEN WORKS IN THE
UNITED STATES.
[Extracted from " The Tablet " of January 21st, I860.]
RELIGION IN AMERICA — COSMOPOLITAN ALMANACK, 1860.
Baltimore : John Murphy and Co.
THERE is nothing in the history of the world like the progress of
the United States, and there is nothing in the progress of the
United States like the progress of the Roman Catholic Church.
Built on a profoundly Protestant basis, our foundation-stones
were not laid without difficulty in the polity of the Pilgrim
Fathers. At the time of the Revolution, Maryland was the only
State in which it could be said that a Roman Catholic was really
and truly on the same legal level with his fellow-citizens. Even
in the neighbouring State of Virginia, whose planters to this day
retain the marks of the Cavalier, as New England reproduces the
type of the Roundhead, the Declaration of Independence found
the Irish Penal Code To the Quakers of Philadelphia
William Penn wrote it as a reproach, that they even suffered
" the scandal of the Mass to be publicly celebrated." ....
One relic of those laws does even subsist. In New Hampshire
there is a Protestant Test Act by which no Catholic can hold
office
But — There were only 24 priests in the United States when
King George the Third recognised their independence ; and in
this 84th year of their independence, there are 2235. Perhaps
there were a dozen churches, and twice as many stations and
chapels of occasional call. There are now 2385 Catholic churches
built throughout the Union, equal in dimensions and decorations
to the parochial churches of the Old World ; while some of the
new cathedrals exhibit the gigantesque character of the country
with a solemnity and grace which do not belong to it : but there
are besides, 1128 stations and chapels, at which wayfaring priests
143
attend, as often as they can, small and scattered congregations.
At the commencement of the century there was one ecclesiastical
Province, one Diocese, and one Bishop, in the whole Union. . . .
There are now, between Baltimore and San Francisco, seven
Archbishops, presiding over seven provinces, which contain 43
suffragan Dioceses, as well as 3 Vicariats Apostolic. Fifty years
ago, a few Jesuists and Franciscans appeared upon the edge of
the backwoods, like videttes of the great religious orders. . . . There
are now in the United States 55 religious houses — 24 of men,
31 of women : they represent nearly all the orders, ancient and
modern; the Benedictine, the Augustinian, the Franciscan, the
Dominican, the Jesuit, the Redemptorist, the Passionist, the Oblate
— The Sister of the Sacre Cceur to teach, the Sister of Charity and
Mercy to visit the Sick ; the Sister of the Good Shepherd to
reclaim the abandoned ; and, latest type of the original and
everlasting energy of the Church, the black Oblate Sisters of
Providence and Sisters of the Precious Blood, sitting amid their
coloured schools A Protestant authority estimates our
present numbers at 3,177,140 : but there is good reason to
believe that they amount to at least three millions and a half.
At the same time, all the intermediary institutions of the Church
— the Confraternities, the Associations, the Conferences into which
so much (Roman) Catholic vitality is thrown in an age, whose
chief characteristic is its power of organization and combination,
are everywhere ramified and gratifying themselves There
are 89 colleges and academies of males, some of them Catholic
universities with State sanction, and almost all of them worked by
the religious orders. There are 202 female academies also, mainly
in connection with conventual institutions .... But the Christian
Brothers are in the United States also. The last return states
that there are 472 parochial schools, which impart instruction to
upwards of 86,000 pupils The Conferences of St.
Vincent de Paul are busy on the wharves and in the rugged defiles
of embryo icestern cities. The Catholic Young Men's Society
gathers its gradual nucleus to discuss the opinions of Orestes
Brownson, or the future of Catholic interests in America
We note with particular interest the spread of Confraternities of
Intercessory Prayer, such as in France, Germany, and England
144
have given the Catholic revival of the century the practical faith
and the miraculous force of the early Christians. For example,
the Bishop of Alton, a new diocese cut out of the south of
Illinois, proclaims the establishment of the Arch- Confraternity
of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the con-
version of sinners throughout the see Applications for
faculties may be made to the Bishop, who obtained lately from
Paris all the necessary privileges from the venerable founder of
the Confraternity But to no son of the Universal Church
(than to the American Roman Catholic) is St. Ignatius
Loyola's advice to the Society of Jesus more applicable — " Pray
as if everything depended upon prayer, and act as if everything
depended upon action." We cannot say there is great gain of
souls in the United States, for as yet there are only reddish
streaks of the dawn of a Catholic movement amid the masses of
its heretical and infidel population. We know, unhappily, that
there has been a great loss of souls born to the Catholic birth-
right of the Seven Sacraments (In alluding to the Irish
emigrants, the author writes of them) " Those who go, go to join
friends, who have a happier homestead The Church, which
has such a laity — and its Bishops and Priests, are worthy to lead
such a part n — need not fear for the future, though the soundings
are strange and the landmarks dim in that tumultuous tide of
fierce democracy. It stands erect amidst the ' debris ' of the
Protestant heresy, which, loosed from the prop of European State
Establishment, crash against each other like the pack-ice in a Polar
sea. The native American mind goes beyond Protestantism. There
is Mormonism at the Great Salt Lake, or the Free Iron Church in
the City for the Pagan of the sty. The more philosophic and
spiritual Pagan summons the Devil to turn tables and carry
messages to the dead. PROTESTANTISM proper seems to be con-
stantly galvanized into a sort of unnatural life by the art of
hysterical revival. HERESY DOES NOT DECAY THERE AS IN THE
OLD WORLD. IT is IN A STATE OF WHOLESALE DISENTEGRATION,
LEADING TOWARDS A CHAOS, OF WHICH IT WILL BE THE CHURCH'S
WORK IN THE COURSE OF THE NEXT CENTURY TO MAKE A COSMOS.
145
HOW THE JESUITS CREPT INTO ENGLAND AND
IRELAND ; MR. O'CONNELL'S CONNECTION
WITH THEM.
f Extracted from " The Jesuits," an Historical Sketch by E.W. GRINFIELD, M.A.
— -Seeley, Fleet Street, and Hanover Street, London. 1853.]
CHAPTER XII., p. 296.
" NOTHING can be more instructive at the present moment than
to hear the Jesuit historian (M. Cretineau Joly) describing the
reappearance of the Society in England after their long exclusion.
He tells us (vol. vi., p. 80) that the English, after having passed
through a sea of blood, established that liberty of conscience,
which could enable them to re-admit the Jesuits to their shores.
He recounts the origin of their missions at Liverpool, Bristol,
Preston, and Norwich, and where they were received, he says
without a murmur. Thomas Weld received them, as the Gentle-
men of Liege, at Lulworth, and afterwards settled them at
Stonyhurst. All this took place, be it remembered, long before
the Jesuits were recalled to Rome. In May, 1803, they prevailed
on Pius VII. to sanction their college at Stonyhurst, and appoint
Father Marmaduke Stone the Provincial Rector. On their
restoration in 1814, Stonyhurst was formally confided to the
Order. ' Pitt,' says the historian, ' had neither time nor will
to oppose the re-establishment of the Institute.' No sooner were
they established at Stonyhurst than they began to quarrel with
the Vicars Apostolic. But Milner, the Ultramontane of Win-
chester, took part with the Society. This bickering between the
Vicars- General and the Jesuits had long been carried on, and will
explain the origin of the late revolution by changing the Vicars-
General into territorial Bishops. Their admiring historian pro-
L
146
ceeds to relate, with a Jesuit smile, the good nature and liberality
of the English Parliament in gradually removing their restrictions
till everything was consummated by Catholic emancipation. Nor
is his account of Ireland less instructive. It was some time before
the Society was welcomed in Ireland with the same kindness
which it had experienced in Britain. Amidst all her disturbances
and miseries the Jesuits, however, according to Cretineau Joly,
were her comforters and apostles ; they wiped away her tears and
rendered her as happy as O'Connell himself could desire or express.
At length Father Kenney, in 1819, was inspired with the idea of
establishing at Clengowes, near Dublin, a National College. It
was then that the voice of their favourite pupil, Daniel O'Connell,
was first heard in ecstasy. Clengowes was opened in 1822 amidst
an applauding multitude. The Society and O'Connell were in
perfect harmony. ' The Jesuits,' says Cretineau, ' undertook
the cause of education, and O'Connell that of freedom.' (Vol. vi.,
p. 95.)
"In 1829 their numbers and influence had so increased, it
was judged expedient to form Ireland into a separate Province,
under the charge of a district Provincial. Father St. Leger was
elected, and they now became the right hand of ultramontane
bishops. In 1840 the Jesuits, according to Cretineau Joly, on
their third centenary, celebrated their own triumphs with those
of Father Matthew. In the following year they opened their
college of Francis Xavier in Dublin. Their historian cannot
refrain from expressing his admiration and surprise that the
Order should have been thus graciously received and welcomed
by Protestants, while it had been so roughly treated by Papists."
147
SEVERAL HISTORICAL FACTS CONNECTED WITH
THE ORDER OF JESUITS, AND COMMENTS
THEREON.
[Extracted from the Publications of the Protestant Alliance ; and from a
Pamphlet entitled " Startling Facts." — Bulwark, April 1, 1863.]
THERE is every reason to apprehend that the subject of Jesuitism,
which is at this moment engaging the attention and awakening
the alarm of almost all the principal countries in Europe, is but
little understood, if not altogether unknown, by the great majority
of the people of this country. We would therefore beg attention
to the subjoined paper, containing a chronological table, with
historical notes, compiled from various sources, and showing at
once the countries from which the Jesuits have been banished, and
the cause of their expulsion.
The annexed statistics will shew how inimical Jesuitism is to
every form of government which is not based on its principles. If
it was found necessary to expel the Jesuits from Roman Catholic
countries on account of their " dangerous seditions, tumults, dis-
cords, scandals, dissensions, entirely breaking up the bonds of
Christian charity," (Bull of Suppression, Clement XIV.) — if
Jesuitism was so antagonistic to the system which engendered it
— what are we to look for as the fruits of that system in a Pro-
testant country, the laws and institutions of which are diametrically
opposed to the spirit of Jesuitism ?
The Jesuits have been expelled —
From Saragossa, in ...... 1555
From La Palintine, in . . . . . 1558
From Vienna, in . . . . . 1566
From Avignon, in ...... 1570
From Antwerp, from Portugal and Segovia, in 1578
L 2
148
From England, in
From England again, in
From England again, in 1586
From Japan, in .
From Hungary and Transylvania, in . . 1588
From Bordeaux, in
From the whole of France,* in . 1594
From Holland, in
From the city of Touron and Berne, in . 1597
From England,f in 1602
* The following are the words of the decree, dated 29th December, 1594,
for the banishment of the Jesuits from France :— They were declared to be
" CORRUPTORS OF YOUTHS, DISTURBERS OF THE PUBLIC REPOSE, AND ENEMIES
OF THE KlNG AND STATE."
The following is the account given us of the attempted murder of Henry
IV. of France, December, 1594, by Ms Prime Minister :— " I was present,"
says the Duke de SuUy, " and approached in agony of grief, seeing the King
all covered with blood The King removed our apprehensions,
and we perceived immediately that his lip only was wounded. The parricide
was discovered : he was a scholar named John Chatel, and readily answered
when he was interrogated, THAT HK CAME FROM THE COLLEGE OF THE JESUITS,
ACCUSING THOSE FATHERS WITH BEING THE AUTHORS OF HIS CRIME." — See Vol.
ii., page 37.
The Parliament of Paris ordered the erection of a column in commemo-
ration of this plot, which they declared to have " sprung from the pestilent
heresy of that pernicious sect, the Jesuits, who, concealing the most abomi-
nable crimes under the guise of piety, had publicly taught the assassination
of kings, and attempted the life of Henry the Fourth."
See this famous inscription in De Argintre's History, and many other
French histories.
f Extract from the decree issued 15th November, 1602, by order of
Elizabeth of England, for the banishment of the Jesuits from her do-
minions : —
She declared that the Jesuits had been " the advisers of the new con-
spiracies formed against her person, had sought to instigate her subjects to
insurrection, had carried on monopolies in order to aid such revolt, had
stirred up foreign Princes to associate for her destruction, had engaged in
all the affairs of her kingdom, and had undertaken by their discourses and
in their writings to dispose of her crown."
The following is an extract from the celebrated memorial addressed to
the Pope by the Roman Catholics of England, in reference to the above
149
From England again, in .... 1604
From Denmark, Thorn, and Venice,* in . 1606
From Venice again, in . . . . 1612
From the kingdom of Amura, in Japan in . 1613
From Bohemia, in . . . . . 1618
From Moravia, in . . . . . 1619
From Naples and the Netherlands, in • . 1622
From China and India, f in . . . . 1623
decree, found in 1602, in which they complained that " these Fathers were
the sole authors of the troubles ichinh agitate the English Church; that before
their arrival no Catholic had been accused of high treason, but as soon as
they appeared everything was changed ; that since their political ambition
had burst forth they had set a price upon kingdoms, and set i;p crowns for
sale." See this memorial more at length in Les Jesuites Criminals de Le'nje
Majesti.
* The Jesuits were expelled from Venice in 1606, in consequence of " the
Senate having discovered that THE JESUITS HAVING AVAILED THEMSELVES OF
THE OFFICE OF CONFESSION TO DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF FAMILIES and the
TALENTS AND DISPOSITIONS OF INDIVIDUALS, BY THE same PROCESS KNEW
THE STRENGTH, RESOURCES, AND SECRETS OF THE STATE, AN ACCOUNT OF
WHICH THEY SENT EVERY SIX MONTHS TO THEIK GENERAL BY A PROVINCIAL
OR VISITOR." — See these facts stated at length in De Thou's History ;
vol. xii.
M. De Canaze, the French Ambassador at Venice, in stating to Henry IV.
and his ministers the injuries done by the Jesuits to the Republic, confirms
the above facts, as stated by the French Historian De Thou. He says that
at Padau and Brescia, where they had not time to burn their papers, "Me-
moirs were found relating rather to the monarchy of the world than to the
Kingdom of Heaven," and concludes thus : — "/ read of no other religious
order which has pursued this course : IT is FOR PRINCES AND TRUE PATRIOTS
TO OPEN THEIR EYES." — See vol. iii. of Ms Letters and Memoirs.
f The following explains why the Jesuits were expelled from Cbina and
India : —
The Secretary to the Congregation de iiropacjanda fide expresses himself
thus, in a memorial presented to the congregation, on the 6th December,
1677, respecting the cruel treatment which the Vicars Apostolic had received
from the Jesuits :—
" Your Excellencies will have learnt from statements and letters trans-
mitted by confidential hands, and from the last accounts on the subject of
which you have already received a copy, that the Jesuits' persecutions of the
Vicars Apostolic and their Missionaries have always continued from the
commencement to this hour ; that the Jesuits have never ceased to thwart
150
From Malta, in . . . 1634
From Russia, in . . . . 1723
From Savoy, in . . . 1729
From Paraguay,* in . . 1733
From Portugal,! in . . . 1759
and obstruct the Mission in the kingdoms of Torquin, Cochin China, Cam-
brya, and Syam ; in a word, in every place where these Fathers resided."
The Jesuits have not contented themselves with persecuting the Mission-
aries of the Holy See in the East ; they have done the same in Europe, at
the Court of France and that of Spain, at the Court of Portugal, in Flanders,
and even at Rome, so that this persecution is NOT the work of individuals
alone, BUT OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY, AND THERE is LITTLE DOUBT THAT THE
GENERAL of the SOCIETY had HIS SHARE IN IT."
See this memorial at the beginning of the 7th vol. of Anecdotes sur les
Affaires de la Chine.
* From a statistical table of the Missionary towns of the Jesuits in Para-
guay, drawn up at the time of their expulsion in 1733, it appears that the
items of their temporalities in man and beast were as follows : —
FAMILIES ••• 21,036
SOULS 88,864
Farm Cattle 724,093
Oxen 46,936
Horses 34_,725
Mares 64,353
Mules 13,905
Asses 7,505
Sheep 230,384
Goats 592
See Robertson's Letters on Paraguay, ii., 50, Appendix.
f Extract from the manifesto of the King of Portugal, addressed to the
bishops of his kingdom, in 1759,, page 41 : —
" It cannot be but the licentiousness introduced by the Jesuits, in which
the three grand features are, falsehood, murder, and perjury, should not give
a new character to the morals of the EXTERNI, as the Jesuits call those who
are not of their order, as well as the internal government of the Nostri, or their
own body. In fact, since these Religions have introduced into Christian and
Civil Society those perverted doctrines which render murder innocent — which
sanctify falsehood — authorise perjury — deprive the laws of their power —
destroy the submission of subjects — allow individuals the liberty of calum-
niating, killing, lying, and forswearing, as their consciences may dictate,
which remove the fear of human and divine laws, and permit a man to redress
151
From France again, in .... 1764
From Spain and the Two Sicilies, in . . 1767
From the Duchy of Parma and Malta, in . 1768
From all Christendom by the bull of Clement xiv.,*in 1773
his own grievances without applying to the magistrate, it is easy to see, with-
out much penetration, that Christian and Civil Society could not subsist
without a miracle. It was to be expected that such pernicious maxims would
most effectually dissolve the strongest bonds which could be found for pre-
serving the commerce and union of mankind."
1 Extract from the Bull of Suppression of Clement the 14th :—
" I have omitted 110 care, no pains, in order to arrive at a thorough know-
ledge of the origin, the progress, and the actual state of that regular Order,
commonly called the ' Company of Jesus.'
" After so many storms, troubles, and divisions, every good man looked
forward with impatience to the happy day which was to restore peace and
tranquillity. But under the reign of this same Clement XIII., the times
became more difficult and tempestuous. Complaints and quarrels were
multiplied on every side. In some places dangerous seditions arose — tumults,
discords, dissensions, scandals, which weakening or entirely breaking the
bonds of Christian charity, excited the faithful to all the rage of party
hatreds and enmities. Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that
the very sovereigns whose piety and liberality towards the Company were so
well known as to be looked upon as hereditary in their families — we mean
our dearly -beloved sons in Christ the kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and
Sicily — found themselves under the necessity of EXPELLING AND DRIVING
FROM THEIR STATES, KINGDOMS, AND PROVINCES THOSE VERY COMPANIONS
OF JESUS, persuaded that there remained no other remedy to so great evils
and this step was necessary, in order to prevent the Christians from
rising one against another, and massacring each other in the very bosom of
our common mother the Holy Church."
(Again, he speaks of the following Popes as having censured the order) : —
Urban vii., Clement ix. x. xi. and xii., Alexander vii. and viii., Innocent
ix. xii. and xiii, and Benedict xiv.
He also charges the society with " adopting certain idolatrous ceremonies
in certain places, in contempt of those justly approved by the Catholic
Church."
And he then proceeds : — " After a mature deliberation, we do of our cer-
tain knowledge, and the fulness of our apostolic power, SUPPRESS AND
ABOLISH THE SAID COMPANY. We deprive it of aU activity what-
ever—of its houses, schools, colleges, hospitals, lands, and in short of every
place whatsoever in whatever kingdom or province they may be situated. We
abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees, and constitutions,
even though confirmed by oath and approved by the Holy Sec or otherwise.
152
During the period of their suppression (from 1773 till 1814) the
Jesuits assumed various names and characters — such as "Adorers
of Jesus," "Redemptorists," "Brothers of the Christian Doctrine;"
" Brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Virgin," " Fathers of
Faith," etc. etc.
They were expelled : —
From Russia, in . . . . 1776
From France in . . . . . 1804
From one of the Swiss Cantons (Grisson), about
the year ..... 1804
From Naples in . . . . . . 1810
From France again, in .... 1806
On the 7th of August, 1814, Pius VII. ordered the publicreading
of the bull in which he restored the " Order of Jesus." He asserts
in it that he restores the order at the warmest request of the
whole Catholic world ; while, in truth, France, Germany, and
Holland only learnt for the first time, from the Papal bull itself,
that they had ever evinced an anxiety for their restoration. It is
even a notorious fact that the Emperor Francis I. shewed great
reluctance to comply with the Papal bull, and that also the Prince
Regent of Portugal and Brazil (afterwards King John VI.) had
formally protested (1815) against the restoration of the order, and
openly declared that he would never tolerate the Jesuits in his
dominions, nor even enter into negotiations with the Holy See on
the subject.
It was, in fact, only Spain, Italy, and a few of the cantons of
Switzerland that rejoiced at the restoration of the order, and for
some years afterwards it was indeed only in these countries legally
acknowledged by the State, while in the rest of Europe the govern-
ments were extremely slow in complying with the Holy Father's
will. For further particulars the reader is referred to Dr.
Michelsen's work on " Modern Jesuitism."
We declare all and all kind of authority, the general, the provincials, the
visitors, and other superiors of the said society, to be for ever annulled and
extinguished, of what nature soever the authority may be, as well in tilings
spiritual as temporal."
See the entire Bull, translated in the " Advocate' for 1815, vol iii. page
153, &c. &c.
153
The following table shows the countries from which the Jesuits
have been expelled from the time of their restoration in 1814 to
the present moment : —
From Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Canton
of Soleure, in . . . . . 1816
From Belgium, in .... 1818
From Brest by its inhabitants, in October . 1819
From Russia for ever, 20th March* . . 1820
From Spain in 1820
From the Cathedral at Rouen, by the people,
in March 1825
From all the public and private schools in
Belgium, in September .... 1826
From Eight Colleges in France, Ifith Junef . 1828
From Great Britain and Ireland, April 13thJ 1829
From France, ...... 1831
From entering Saxony, by a law passed in
September . . . . . . 1831
From Portugal, 24th of May . . . 1834
From Spain, in July ..... 1835
From Rheims, by its inhabitants, December . 1838
From entering Lucerne .... 1842
* Extract from the celebrated ukase issued by the Emperor Alexander of
Russia, dated 13th of March 1820, ordering the banishment of the Jesuits for
ever from his dominions : —
" They, the Jesuits, plant a stern intolerance in the minds of their
votaries . . . They destroy social happiness by dividing families. Their
efforts are directed solely to their own interest and promotion ; and their
statutes furnish their consciences with a justification of eveiy refractory and
illegal action."
f From eight Colleges — namely, Aix, Billon, Dole, Forcalquier, Montmo-
rillon, St. Acheul, and St. Ann. To this decree, for expelling the Jesuits
from the above-named Colleges, Pope Leo XII. declares that " he saw in
those decrees no violation of the episcopal rights ; and that he did not there-
fore think himself justified in forcing upon France ecclesiastical societies
which had been expelled by the law of the land."
I Extract from the "Relief Bill" of 1829, 10 Geo. 4, cap. 7-29— "And
be it further enacted, that if any JESUIT or member of any such religious
order, community, or society as aforesaid, shall, after the commencement of
this Act, come into this realm, he shall be deemed and taken to be guilty of
154
From Lucerne for ever, 13th of February 1845
From France again, . . . 1845
From the whole of Switzerland, 6th September 1847
From Bavaria, 17th February
From their establishments in Sardinia, 2nd
March ... .
From Naples, llth of March
From the Papal States, on the 29th of March
From Linz, 10th April ....
From Vienna, on the 16th April . . .
From Styria and the Arch-Duchy of Austria
May 8th
From the Austrian Empire, 8th May .
From Galicia in the month of July
From Sardinia on the 19th of July, and
From Sicily, on the 21st of July . . . j
From Paraguay, on the 28th of June* . . 1858
From several Italian States .... 1859
And from Sicily, in Junef . . . . 1860
The following important extract is taken from the Quarterly
Review, No. 134, p. 586 :-
" No country could ever yet tolerate Jesuits in its bosom without
certain destruction. Even Romanism itself, again and again, by
the mouth of Romish bishops, and Romish sovereigns, and the
misdemeanour, and being thereof lawfully convicted, SHALL BE SENTENCED
AND ORDERED TO BE BANISHED FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR THE TERM
OF HIS NATURAL LIFE."
* The following are the words of the decree for the banishment of the
Jesuits from Paraguay, in 1858 :—
"Article 1. The decree of the 28th of June, 1858, is abrogated. 2. The
Fathers of the Company of the Jesuits shah1 leave the territory of the Re-
public within the shortest space possible, and not retiirn without special
permission of the Government."
f The following decree was published at Palermo, in June 1860, for the
banishment of the Jesuits from the Island of Sicily : —
"Considering the Jesuits and Leguorians have, during the said period of
Bourbon domination, been the most energetic abettors of despotism, in virtue
of the powers conferred upon me, it is decreed the corporation of regulars
existing in Sicily under the different names of societv and houses of Jesuits
155
wisest and best of Romish philosophers and Romish universities,
and Popes themselves, has warned us of the fact."
REMARKS.
The list of expulsions, as here given, was published in some of
our metropolitan papers. It is simply a statement of facts which
have not, and cannot, be contradicted. One of the first questions
which these expulsions would naturally suggest is, Why have the
Jesuits been expelled these Roman-Catholic countries ? and why
have we not heard of the expulsion or suppression of other orders?
The answer to this question is furnished by the extract from Pope
Clement's Bull, namely, that Jesuitism is productive of seditions,
tumults, discords, dissensions, scandals ,•" that it is calculated to
cause Roman Catholics to "massacre each other in the very bosom of
their common, mother the Church;" that it introduces idolatrous
maxims into the Church. But it may be said — follow the Jesuit
in his daily life ; you see a man energetic in preaching the tenets of
the Catholic faith, making himself conspicuous only in the chapel,
taking no part in social or political life, and, apparently, only living
ad major em dci gloriam (to the greater glory of God), and for the
good of immortal souls. Now the difficulty connected with this
objection is, How can their expulsion from Roman-Catholic coun-
tries, the dark and hideous picture drawn by Clement the 14th,
twelve other Popes, the King of Portugal, the Universities
and Parliaments of Europe, and other distinguished Roman
Catholics, be reconciled with the apparent character of the Jesuits ?
Shall we say that Clement and the other Popes were odious
monsters, deserving eternal execration for fabricating this huge
calumny ? that his most Catholic Majesty was most mendacious
and vindictive ? Shall we say that other eminent Roman Catholics
who are generally considered to have been ornaments of their
church, were only engaged in continual warfare with virtue and
piety ? aye, that even whole nations rose up against their spiritual
guides — against men who willingly gave up every earthly tie, all
and of the Redemption, are dissolved, the individuals composing them are
expelled from the Island, and their estates annexed to the dominions of the
State."
156
the pleasures and enjoyments of life solely for their benefit, and
that merely because the morality of these teachers shone out with
superior lustre ? Or shall we say that the Jesuits are the secret
and sworn enemies of all law and order ; that in proportion to the
magnitude of their designs is the religious hypocrisy with which
they deceive their votaries; that they value neither doctrines,
persons, nor things, further than these tend to the interest of their
order ; and that they set before themselves a design of no less
importance than to enslave the soul and body of every human
being ? Any person who is even partially acquainted with the real
history of the company will not hesitate to adopt the latter view of
the question. He will have ample testimony to bear him out
from their history in Suuth America, where they endeavoured to
establish a government entirely under their own authority, and
ranked human beings among their various kinds of property. " In
1848 the Geneose Jesuits declared to government that they were
willing to send to the field 700 bayonets at their own cost." In
1832 they raised a force of 100,000 men on the Spanish frontier for
the ostensible purpose of protecting the territory from the yellow
fever, but in reality to commence operations, on the first opportu-
nity, against Spain. The yellow fever pretext was accepted by
the Spanish ministers as a sufficient apology (so much for the
influence of Jesuitism upon the national mind), but when the time
for action arrived, the Jesuits declared their real object, and imme-
diately established an absolute monarchy. We are also credibly
informed, that some of their first apostles in India professed to le
ancient Brahmins.
We have then, from the writings of the Jesuits themselves, ample
proof of what Clement 14th, the King of Portugal, and others
asserted respecting them. These things being so, it becomes a
question of vital importance whether Roman Catholics or Protes-
tants should encourage these secret disturbers of the peace and
order of society.
A Jesuit mission was, not long since, established in Galway.
Doubtless many Roman Catholics who had an opportunity of
being acquainted with the history of the order, and who, therefore,
with their Protestant brethren, regarded the advent of some of its
members with no small share of suspicion, are, from a personal
157
acquaintance with these crafty and insinuating men, beginning to
change their opinion, and to look up to them with feelings of admi-
ration and reverence. "We entreat such of our Roman-Catholic
fellow-countymen as may be disposed to repose unwavering confi-
dence in the Jesuits, to suspend their judgment till they shall have
obtained a knowledge of the doctrines which these men intend to
disseminate in this country. Immediately on the Jesuits having
transgressed our national law, which forbids their existence in this
country, the peace and harmony which existed among Roman
Catholics and Protestants is broken up. Agrarian outrages, elec-
tioneering disturbances, a fierce persecution against Protestants,
and Phoenix conspiracies are multiplied. They have not ceased to
work their secret machinery, till they have outraged not only the
feelings of Protestants, by an unheard-of systematic kidnapping
which they effect through their misguided and fanatic votaries, but
also have endeavoured to wrest from the hands of Roman Catholics
parental authority, by prescribing for them a system of secular
education, and endeavouring to coerce them to give up that of the
National Board and Queen's University, against which there has
been, hitherto, no objection ; and all this because Protestants and
Roman Catholics study in tbe same halls. Jesuitism is, then, not
merely an enemy to Protestants and free institutions, but to every
Roman Catholic who dares to think for himself in matters either
sacred or secular, and the only restraints that are laid upon them in
this country, and which prevent them from running into excesses
of temporal and spiritual despotism similar to those in which they
indulged in Italy, are those, that are laid on by a constitutional
government, which tolerates them when they are expelled Roman
Catholic countries — and the freedom, action, and opinion of such
distinguished men as the Peters and Barrys, who appreciate too
highly the freedom they enjoy as British subjects to bow their
neck to the yoke which the Italians lately cast off. ]N"or is this
opposition which Jesuitism or Ultramontanic tyranny encounters
confined to individuals. We find Roman-Catholic papers — organs
of the opinions of, at least, an important and influential section of
the Romish Church, boldly and independently opposing this daring
aggression upon their liberties. We copy from the Gahcay Vindi-
cator of the 9th of May the following very pointed remarks : " We
speak with the most perfect respect for the opinions, and most
willingly grant the purity of motives hy which they are actuated ;
hut the question of the education of our children, of the collegiate
training of our sons and relatives, is one of too much vital impor-
tance to all concerned for fathers of families to sacrifice their own
notions of right, and of what should constitute intellectual superiority,
to t/ti' ri-fisoniitys of other men." In reference to the foreign
enlistment now going on in Ireland by the Ultramontane party, in
order to compel hy force of arms their co-religionists in Italy to
submit to a government which they have found by bitter experience
to be utterly intolerable, the Cork Reporter, a Roman-Catholic
paper, says :—
' What right, in such circumstances, has any foreigner to join it
(the Pope's army), and to assist in imposing on the subjects of the
Pope a system of rule to which they object ? If it be alleged that
they do not object to it, then surely he can have no difficulty in
recuiting his ranks at home. If the government be satisfactory,
why do not the Romans fight for it ? If it be unsatisfactory, on
what pretence can Irishmen force it on a reluctant people ? "
These are the arguments of Roman Catholics. They are unan-
swerable arguments ; arguments of men who will not be swayed or
intimidated by the presence of a strong Jesuit faction, or the
fulrniuations of an ultramontane press : men who are willing to
extend the same rights and privileges to others which they them-
selves enjoy : and, surely, to such enlightened individuals, whatever
their religious convictions in other matters may be, their Protestant
fellow-countrymen can extend the right hand of fellowship, and live
with them in social harmony. But we solemnly warn both Roman
Catholic and Protestant, if they would not have society disorganised
— if they value the first principles of morality, but, above all, if
they would be zealous for the glory of God, let them demand the
enforcement of that statute, the " Relief Bill," against these men
who falsely call themselves the Society of Jesus, but whose
mission is to subvert the plainest commands of God's blessed
Word, &c.
159
AN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
BY JOHN LAWRENCE MOSHEIM, D.D.,
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTIGEN.
Translated by the Rev. ARCHIBALD MACLURE, M.A., Minister of the
English Church at the Hague. London: A. Millar, 1765.
Vol. II. p. 94. Their (the Jesuits) whole order is divided
into three classes, the first comprehends the professed members,
who live in what are called professed houses ; the second
contains the scholars, who instruct the youth in the colleges ;
and to the third belong the novices, who live in the houses of
probation. The professed members besides the three ordinary
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, that are common
to all monastic tribes, and obliged to take a fourth, by which
they bind themselves to go without deliberation or delay wherever
the Pope shall think Jit to send them : they are also a kind of
Mendicants, being without any fixed subsistence, and living
upon the liberality of pious and well disposed people. The
other Jesuits, and more particularly the scholars, are possessed
of large revenues, and are obliged, in case of urgent necessity
to contribute to the support of the professed members. These
latter who are few in number considering the multitudes that
belong to the other classes, are, generally speaking, men of
prudence and learning, deeply skilled in the affairs of the world,
and dexterous in transacting all kinds of business from long
experience. In a word, they are the true and perfect Jesuits. The
rest have, indeed, the title, but are rather the companions and
assistants of the Jesuits than real members of that mysterious
Order, and it is only in a very vague and general sense that
the denomination of Jesuits can be applied to them. What
is still more remarkable, the secrets of the society are not
100
revealed even to all the professed members. It is only a small
number of this class, whom old age has enriched with thorough
experience, and long trial declared worthy of such an important
trust, that are instructed in the mysteries of the Order.*
(Note to Page 96.) " The character and spirit of the Jesuits
were admirably described, and their transactions and fate
foretold, with a sagacity almost prophetic, so early as the
year 1551, in a sermon preached in Christ Church, Dublin,
by Doctor George Brown, Bishop of that See, a copy of which
was given to Sir James "Ware, and may be found in the
Harleian Miscellany, (Vol. V. p. 566.) The remarkable pas-
sage that relates to the Jesuits is as follows : " But there are a
" new fraternity of late sprung up who call themselves Jesuits,
" which will deceive many, who are much after the Scribes
"and Pharisees' manner. Amongst the Jews they shall strive
"to abolish the truth, and shall come very near to do it.
" For these sorts will turn themselves into several forms .
" with the Heathen a Heathenist, with the Atheists an Atheist',
"with the Jews a Jew, with the Reformers a Refonnade, pur-
posely to know your intentions, your minds, your hearts, and
"your inclinations, and thereby bring you at last to be like
"the fool that 'said in his heart there teas no God' These
"shall spread over the whole world, 'shall be admitted into
"the councils of princes, and the// never the iciser,' charming
"of them; yea, making your princes reveal their hearts, and
" the secrets therein, and yet they not perceive it ; which
"will happen from falling from the law of God, by neglect
" of fulfilling the law of God, and by winking at their sins.
"Yet in the end, God, to justify His law, shall suddenly cut
" off this Society even by the hands of those, who have most
" succoured them, and made them that they shall become
" odious to all nations : so that at the end they shall be
" worse than Jews, having no resting-place upon earth ;
* Other writers add a 4th class, consisting of the spiritual and temporal
coadjutors, who also assist the professed members, and perform the same
functions, without being bound by any more than the three simple vows ;
though after a long and approved exercise of their employment, the spiritual
coadjutors are admitted to the 4th vow, and thus become professed members.
161
"and then shall a Jew have more favour than a Jesuit."
This singular passage — I had almost said prediction — seems
to he accomplished in part by the present suppression of the
Jesuits in France. I write this note in the year 1762 ; and by
the universal indignation which the perfidious stratagems, iniqui-
tous avarice, and ambitious views of that society have excited
among all the orders of the French nations from the throne
to the cottage.
WATCH!!!
A I
A TEANSLATION OF THE
LETTER EHOM: THE
TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS,
Dated Rome, October 26th, 1865,
And published in the Appendix to a Eeport to the Electors of the
3rd Circle of the Seine,
BY EMILE OLLIVIER.
PARIS, 1869— LIBRAIRIE INTERNATIONAL,
No. 15, BOULEVARD MONTMARTRE.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.*
Pope Pius IX. to the Venerable Brother Georges,
Archbishop of Parts : — at Paris.
Venerable Brother, Apostolic Blessing and Benediction.
By a letter written with our own hand, addressed to you on
the 24th of November last year, you might easily have been
convinced of our paternal benevolence towards you. Certainly
we entertained the sure hope, that, touched by our heartfelt love
for you, you would have heartily responded to our affectionate
* In my first edition I suppressed the letter of the Pope to the Archbishop
of Paris, not from any feeling of indecision, but from the fear of committing
what might be considered as an indelicacy. I am now better instructed,
and know that this document is not a private letter but an official na>, :in
act of the Chancery of Rome, and therefore liable and open to discussion.
I give the Geneva translation, which I have collated with the Latin text,
and find to be perfectly exact. It contains only two or three omissions,
which I have supplied; and to show the parts which are mi/ translation, I
have had them printed in italics.
M 2
164
feelings, and that you would have willingly fulfilled our wishes,
and given manifest proofs of your respect and devotion to our
person and to the See of Peter, as is so becoming in a Catholic
Prelate. We had hoped this the more, because you had
taken care, when you were designated for the Archiepiscopal
See of Paris, to address a letter to us, in which you professed
the highest attachment to our person and to the Apostolic See,
and also the most entire respect for ourselves personally and
for the said See. Filled with this hope, we thought fit in a
letter, which we wrote to you, and which we now recall to your
recollection, not to say one word of the letter which you had your-
self addressed to us in the same year in the calends of September,
in answer to that of ours of the 26th of the preceding April, upon
the subject of some circumstances connected with your diocese.
Such a letter written by you has been a subject of no slight
astonishment and disappointment to us; for, contrary to our hopes,
it has made us understand that you entertain opinions which are
entirely opposed to the divine supremacy of the Roman Pontiff
over the Universal Church.
You do not hesitate to maintain that the power of the
Roman Pontiff over the episcopal dioceses is neither ordinary
nor direct. It is your opinion that the Roman Pontiff cannot
impose his authority over any diocese, excepting only when that
diocese shall be found in such disorder and difficulty, that this
intervention becomes the only means for the salvation of souls,
and for remedying the negligence of its pastors.
You think that the divine right, in virtue of which the bishop
is the sole judge in his own diocese, is completely set aside as
soon as the Sovereign Pontiff (except in the case of evident
necessity already described) interferes in the affairs of that diocese.
It is your opinion that a canonically constituted diocese, in
which the hierarchy is regularly appointed, is converted into a
missionary country from the moment that the Roman Pontiff —
unless it is in the position already described — exercises his
authority over it. Besides, and especially, in your speech in the
Senate you attacked, as abuses, appeals to the Apostolic See.
You contest the right, which all the faithful enjoy, of appealing
to the Roman Pontiff, and you say that tbis right impedes the
165
administration of a diocese and renders it almost impossible.
Moreover, while not hesitating to broach such a doctrine, you
openly and distinctly declare the means which you intend to
employ to maintain it. For you intimate that you are resolved
to resist to the utmost of your power, and to take measures to
prevent, unless in the case of absolute necessity before stated and
often. repeated, the direct intervention of the Sovereign Pontiff
from ever taking place. You pretend that the conduct of the
Regulars of the Nunciature and of the Roman congregation has
had no other intention than to bring the direct intervention of
the Sovereign Pontiff into all dioceses ; and you say, moreover,
that you will either excite your venerable brethren, the Heads
of the priesthood of France, to join in the same opinions ; or else
appeal to the public by means of an instruction addressed to them
for that purpose.
You have even dared in your speech before the Senate, to
propose several measures contrary to the supreme authority of
the Sovereign Pontiff and of the Holy See, namely those which
consist in withholding the apostolic letters, and submitting them
to the approval and consent of the civil authority, and in having
recourse to the power of the laity.
In the same speech, which was immediately printed, treating
of the organic articles,* you acknowledged the obligation of
allowing them some measure of authority and some respect,
because they relate to a pre-existent necessity and a grave con-
dition of society ! You are not, however, ignorant that the
Apostolic See has never failed to protest against these articles
published by lay power and contrary to the doctrine of the Church,
to its rights, and to its liberties. No, Venerable Brother, we never
could have supposed that you would be animated by such opinions,
if, to our deep grief, your letter of September, and the speech
already mentioned, had not proved it. We cannot but be deeply
afflicted and greatly agitated, when we find you so unexpectedly
* The ''organic- articles" here objected to by the Pope are those of the
Declaration of the French clergy ; which is in fact their " Bill of Rights, ''
and forms an essential part of the Concordat entered into with France by
the Roman Pontiff.— TRANSLATOR.
166
favouring the false and erroneous doctrines of Febronius, which,
as you well know, have been reprobated and condemned by the
Holy See ; and which have been refuted and overthrown by
various Catholic writers, in the most learned works. You,
Venerable Brother, can easily understand the astonishment with
which we were overwhelmed when fully assured that you had
enunciated such opinions, so contrary to Roman Catholic doetrine,
and which for that cause alone, as a Catholic bishop, you ought
to have rejected with horror. Thus, for example, by asserting
that the power of the Roman Pontiff over each diocese in par-
ticular is not ordi)iar//l)ut extraordinary, you enunciate a proposition
entirely contrary to the definition of the 4th Council of Lateran,
in which we read these very clear and decisive words : — " The
Church of Rome, by the will of God, has over all others the
supremacy of ordinary power, and that as the mother and mistress
of all the faithful,"* — that is to say, over all who belong to the
flock of Christ. You ought, Venerable Brother, to have well
known and carefully examined these decisive words pronounced
by the Council.
You cannot but know that your proposition above cited is
contrary to the common usage of the Catholic Church, to the
doctrine received and transmitted from age to age by the Church
and all the bishops even until this day, a doctrine which the
Church has always held and taught, and which it teaches and
holds. She asserts that those inspired words — " Feed my sheep,
feed my lambs," were said by our Lord Jesus Christ to the
blessed prince of the Apostles in the sense, that by virtue of these
words all the faithful, each and every one, remain in immediate
subjection to Peter and to his successor as the Supreme Head
and Ordinary over the whole Church and over all religion, even
as they are all and every one submitted to our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the Roman Pontiff is the veritable Vicar on
earth, the head of the whole Church, father and teacher of all
Christians.
We are not less astonished — but perhaps it escaped your
observation — that you adopt the opinions of Febronius, in
* St. Thomas, Question 26, Art. 3.
167
maintaining that by the above-mentioned doctrine, the dioceses
would find themselves transformed into missionary countries, and
their bishops into vicars apostolic. But all know the contrary,
and Catholics will rightly answer that this assertion is as false as
if you were to affirm that in the civil state ordinary governors of
provinces could no longer call themselves ordinary magistrates,
because kings and emperors reserve to themselves the plenitude
of their power, either immediate or ordinary, over all and each
of their subjects ; and it is in fact this very logical comparison
which is made use of by the Angelic Doctor, when he says,
" The Pope holds the plenitude of Pontifical power as a king in
his kingdom. But the bishops, as the judges set over each city,
assume a portion of those cares which devolve upon him. ! " *
We are astonished also, Venerable Brother, at your complaints
that petitions and appeals should be addressed to the Sovereign
Pontiff of Rome, and that he should receive them ; for being a
Catholic bishop you ought to know perfectly well that the right
of appe'al to the Apostolic throne, as was said by Benedict the
14th, our predecessor of immortal memory, "is so necessarily
tied up with the judicial supremacy of the Roman Pontiff over
the Universal Church, that it can never be questioned, unless it
is pretended to deny absolutely all supremacy, "f The right is
so well known by all the faithful, that St. Gelasius, also our
predecessor, has written, " There is no Church on earth which
does not acknowledge that the See of the blessed Peter has the
power to loose that which has been bound by the sentence of any
bishop whatsoever, because to it alone belongs the right of
judging all the Church, nor is any one permitted to pronounce a
judgment against its decision. To that See the Canons have
decided that we must appeal from all the countries of the globe,
and no one has any right to appeal from its judgment to any
other."J
Thus you have thrown us into astonishment when you assert
that the custom practised by the Apostolic See, of receiving the
* St. Thomas, Question 26, Art. 3.
f Benedict XIV. Diocesan Synod, Book iv. chap. v. to viii.
I Seventh Letter to Bishop Darden.
168
complaints of those who appeal to it from the judgments of
bishops, renders the administration of a diocese impossible to you.
Such an impossibility no Catholic bishop, either of the present or
past time, has ever perceived. If this pretended impossibility
could ever have existed, it is the Roman Pontiff who must have
felt it ; he, who we may say is oppressed in every sense by the
heavy charge of all the Churches, is obliged to receive the
petitions from every diocese in the world, to examine them
carefully, and decide everything. It could never have been felt
by a simple bishop, who was only obliged to answer for the
affairs of his own diocese, always a very small portion of the
Universal Church. Your complaints against the right of appeal
to the Roman Pontiff, and against the ordinary and direct
jurisdiction of that same Pontiff over all dioceses, excites our
astonishment the more, because every bishop possessing a
generous mind draws from that right and jurisdiction, as you
yourself can prove, for a great alleviation of his cares, a consola-
tion and power before God, before the Church, and' before
the enemies of the Church.
Before God :• — because, being relieved in great measure from
his responsibility, and of the account which he has to render,
illuminated by the blessed light of the Apostolic See, he feels
himself day by day better directed to a happier administration of
his diocese.
Before the Church : — for by that means he sees it daily
fortified and rendered more flourishing, both by increasing union
and by increased firmness and unity of government.
Before the enemies of the Church : — because the Bishop
becomes more courageous and more constantly opposed to them.
It is a matter of experience, and perfectly demonstrated, that the
bishop not only loses his power, but becomes the plaything of his
adversaries, as soon as he adheres less firmly to the immutable
rock on which Christ our Lord has built His Church, and
against which the doors of hell shall never prevail.
As to the declaration which you have made of your determina-
tion to resist, and to excite other bishops to adopt your quarrel,
and to appeal to public opinion, do you not see that by such
means, most assuredly seditious, prepared by Febronius against
169
the Apostolic Sec, you deeply offend against the Divine Author
of the constitution of his Church, and inflict the greatest injury
on your colleagues and on the Catholic people of France ?
Now as to the question of Regulars : — know in the first place
that these Regulars have given us no information ; that it is by
another source that we have heard of the visit which you made
to them. On that subject we amicably warned you in our
before-mentioned letter, of the 26th of April, and that warning
you are pleased to call a sentence passed without a hearing, and
you add that it is contrary to the presumption of right which
you think exists in favour of the superior, when there is
a controversy between the superior and the inferior, which the
Regulars are with respect to you. We can scarcely believe that
it was you who spoke thus, Venerable Brother, considering that
the Book of Decretals of our predecessors are so well known to
you, and consequently you know that from the earliest times it
has been the custom of the Roman Pontiffs, on hearing that
a bishop had committed an action which had not a perfectly
desirable appearance, to write to him fully upon the subject, and
explain to him their sorrow on the occurrence. And there are
in existence numberless canons which begin in the following
terms — "It is related to us," "a complaint has been made to us,"
"at our audience," "to ourselves," etc., and the bishops have
never considered that those letters from the Roman Pontiff were
sentences passed without hearing the party implicated. They
have never expressed any irritation in consequence, but have
always received them in the sense in which they were written, —
that is to say, as an invitation to justify their conduct, or to
acknowledge themselves in error, or to disavow it entirely. Any
other manner of acting would render the government of the
Church too difficult for the vicar of Christ on earth, and would
not be sufficiently conformable to episcopal gentleness.
We are afflicted, Venerable Brother, that you should have
fallen into any ambiguities concerning the affairs of the Regulars.
But in the first place we would wish you to consider, with your
usual sagacity, that we are now treating of the episcopal visit,
made whether to the Society of Jesus, or to the Franciscans of
the Order of Capuchins, who have resided in the city of Paris
170
under several bishops, your predecessors, enjoying the peaceable
possession of their exemption ; and, in consequence, the Holy
Apostolic See itself was in the enjoyment of its peculiar and
separate right of jurisdiction over these same Regulars. Thus it
becomes a • question of spoliation, accomplished by an act
destructive of the privileges of the Holy See and the Regulars.
Such is the real state of the question : whence you will easily
perceive that the Apostolic See would act with justice, even if it
was pleased to convert into a judgment or a sentence, the terms
in which we have thought proper to make it known to you. In
truth, Venerable Brother, even if you were perfectly right as to the
facts, you are nevertheless not ignorant, that according to
the rules of either of these kinds of rights, no one can be violently
deprived of a right of which he is in possession. For which
reason, before proceeding to deprive either the Regulars or
the Holy See of their status and of their rights, propriety as well
as justice. requires that you should have informed the Holy See of
the reasons, and you should have awaited its answer. You
know very well the difference which exists between a judgment
demanded, and a judgment obtained, and what either right enjoins,
particularly in all that concerns judgments of either class. We
earnestly desire, Yenerable Brother, you would in your great
prudence examine these points with care, and weigh them in
your mind.
You believe, moreover, that presumption ought always to exist
in favour of the superior when it relates to a debate between
persons of different stations ; and you therefore propose a rule
very different to that proposed by St. Bernard in the following
terms to our predecessor Innocent II. : — " In all that dis-
tinguishes your sole supremacy, that which ennobles it most
especially, and that which renders your apostolate most peculiarly
illustrious, is that you can rescue the poor from out of the hands
of those more powerful than themselves."*
But you say the religious communities who live at Paris cannot
enjoy this exemption because, as it appears to you, they have not
been canonically established, and that for three reasons — Firstly,
because the law of the State allows the Regulars no legal
* St. Bernard, 198.
171
existence ; secondly, because the same law does not permit
religious houses to hold property or possessions of any kind ;
from which it follows that it is impossible to fulfil the orders of
the Apostolic constitutions, — that is to say, that before the foun-
dation of a religious house it must be proved that "they are in
possession of a revenue sufficient for their decent support ; and
lastly, because the Council of Trent and the constitutions of the
Roman Pontiffs require, for the canonical existence of Regulars
in any diocese, the consent of the bishop, which you affirm has
never been given to the persons in question. You also affirm,
that the fact of their previous existence cannot in any way render
their position canonical under the pretext of implied approbation ;
for, according to your opinion, the constitutions of the Pontifical
See and the Council of Trent demand that the consent and
authorisation should be formally expressed by a written license
made before the establishment of the Regulars. Thus, according
to you, the consent cannot be supposed to be given under the title
of prescription, because this is a question of the laws of public
order, which do not admit of prescription.
We have no doubt, Venerable Brother, that you will succeed
in convincing yourself that these arguments are powerless and
have no weight. In order to that, you have only to weigh
seriously, and with your great intelligence, what we are about
to say, which we wish you to consider carefully.
In all that relates to the laws of the State which refuse a legal
or civil existence to the Regular Orders, which interdict their
houses from possessing the full and complete enjoyment of any
property, and which thus prevent them from fulfilling the
conditions imposed by canonical rule on their foundation, that is,
that they shall make known what revenues they possess to
provide decently for themselves : what can be the value of civil
laws as against ecclesiastical rights and government ? It cannot
escape your notice that the civil laws, the laws of the State above
all, in these troubled and unhappy times of frightful and per-
nicious rebellion, may any day deny even to the bishops, and
every other constituted power of the Church, a legal or civil
existence, even unjustly denying them the possession and full
proprietorship of any species of property. Is it possible that such
172
laws should be a sufficient reason to deny bishops and every
constituted power of the Church a canonical existence and their
ecclesiastical rights? You well know that it is in religious
communities that it is most easy to observe and practise the
exercises declared to be necessary by the Holy Councils to attain
to Christian perfection. What then ? May civil laws interdict
in any state the practice of Christian perfection, and can bishops
attribute any canonical value to such laws ? All the world, and
more especially the bishops, know what has always been the
conduct of the Church, and more especially of the Apostolic See,
in regard to those laws which are hostile to the religious orders.
Is it possible that a bishop should separate himself on such
a point from the tradition of the Church ; and by deserting the
position which he holds in the Church, sanction such laws in the
face of the whole Church, by attributing to them any power?
These considerations must shew you clearly how vain and
useless any scheme of opposition, drawn from such a species of
civil law, must ever be. As to what the laws prescribe, — that
religious houses can possess nothing, as full and absolute owners ;
and as to the conclusion at which you have arrived from
this state of affairs, viz., that the condition of certain posses-
sions, necessary for the decent maintenance of the members,
imposed by the sacred canons on the foundation of houses of
Regulars, can never be fulfilled, you have only, Venerable
Brother, to study profoundly the letter and spirit of the canons
cited by yourself, to prove that you are in error and deceive
yourself. In fact, what is the aim of these canons when they
prescribe a condition of that kind ? They seek for nothing,
except the welfare of the members, taking into consideration the
interest of each individual ; and, also, the good government and
administration of the community.
Therefore, when it is quite impossible for them to fulfil that
condition, would it be just to turn to their detriment that which
had only been prescribed for their advantage ? On that subject
you are perfectly well acquainted with the regulations, not
only of the canons,* but also of the civil law.f It is an
* Cap. quod ob gratiam de regulis juris,
t Legge nulla 25ff, de legit.
173
acknowledged maxim that, neither in law nor in equity, is it
admissible that we should turn to the disadvantage of individuals,
by either too strict or too hard an interpretation, any prescriptions
which have only been introduced into the law with a view to
their advantage. Now, if you examine the letter of the canons,
do you find that only by an accident they prescribe, that the
members, according to your view of the case, should feed
themselves, and maintain themselves solely on the produce of
properties belonging to themselves ? Certainly not. The canons
relating to that are the constitution Cum Alias of our predecessor
Gregory XV., published on the 25th of August, 1622 ; * that of
Urban the VIII., also our predecessor, issued on the 21st of June,
1625 ; lastly, the constitution Nuper of Innocent the XII.,
dated the 23rd of December, 1697. We might have satisfied
ourselves by alleging only the last, which is the most recent, and
which contains both the others. This constitution expresses
itself thus : " Tbat no monastery, convent, or house of Regulars,
shall anywhere be received, unless there are in the establishment
at least twelve members who can subsist and maintain themselves
on the revenues of all kinds and the accustomed alms, making
all necessary deductions." Thus the canons do not speak at all
of the produce of property in possession. They merely mention
" the revenues in general, and alms."
"We must now speak of another condition, that is to say, of the
Licence, and the Episcopal consent which the Council of Trent
and the constitutions require to constitute the canonical existence
of houses of Regulars. No one certainly, Venerable Brother, can
doubt about the necessity of the Episcopal consent ; but in this
case we must see if the consent has not existed in a manner
sufficiently satisfactory. Now, having carefully weighed all the
circumstances, how can anyone ever deny that the Episcopal
consent has really existed in this case ? Without citing other
facts, all the world knows, Venerable Brother, that the "religious"
in question, of the Order of St. Francis, and of the Society of
Jesus, have really existed in Paris under several bishops, your pre-
decessors, who very willingly accepted their assistance in providing
for the salvation of souls, and in executing all the various offices
* 15th August, 1622.
174
of the holy ministry, and overwhelmed them with every possible
mark of their goodwill and esteem. This conduct on the part of
your predecessors towards the Regulars in question shows that
Episcopal consent had been sufficiently expressed ; and that it is
impossible to deny the fact without imputing grave blame to your
predecessors. And this is a convenient opportunity of placing
before you the words written by, Fagnan,* an author contem-
porary with Urban the VIII., and other Roman Pontiffs,
our predecessors, invoked by you, who possessed a fundamental
knowledge of the canonical constitutions which you invoke.
Fagnan remarks — and neither before nor since has any one con-
tradicted the opinion — that in all that concerns the establishment
of Regulars in a diocese : " It is sufficient that the consent of
the bishop should be given after the election ; and that to con-
firm it, ratification is sufficient," in which opinion, the Arch-
deacon Hugo and others agree. f And, in truth, it could not be
otherwise. Justice demands it, and the lawyers have agreed that
facts and acts are more powerful than words. Thus in your
wisdom you will understand, that your opinion, drawn from the
Constitution of Urban VIII., namely, that the license of
the Ordinary ought to be formally expressed in writing, and
cannot be either implied or presumed, has no weight. Firstly,
because that which is proved by facts, certain, evident, and
continued during a long series of years, is not less formally
expressed, than that which is made known by words or writings.
But, also, because no canonical constitution imposes the condition
of a written consent. You cannot allege here the argument drawn
from the Council of Trent, that the consent of the Ordinary must
precede the foundation ; in fact, it cannot escape you that it is the
natural and judicial virtue of every ratification of later acts to
excuse the absence of the consent, which, according to legal form,
ought to have preceded them. As to what you say about pre-
scription, that has nothing to do with the present question. No
one pretends that a prescription can be taken instead of episcopal
consent, and render it unnecessary. We say simply in this case,
that the episcopal consent exists, without doubt, in a manner
* De Institutionibus, cap. Non amplius.
t Fagnanus, glossa ultima in cap. cle Monachis quest. 2.
175
sufficiently satisfactory ; which is clearly and amply proved by a
great number of facts, and during a very long series of years, so
that, not only is it impossible to deny its existence, but we
ought to consider it certain that it has been given in the best
form.
This is what we consider necessary to answer to your
letters, especially those of the calends of September ; and to this
we think it necessary to draw your attention. But, besides, we
cannot avoid making other observations which are also of great
importance.
In fact, we cannot conceal from you, Venerable Brother,
that our grief and astonishment were very great, when we
heard that you had presided at the Obsequies of Marshal
Magnau, Grand Master of the Order of Freemasons, and
given the solemn absolution when the Masonic Insignia were
placed on the. funeral canopy, and the members of that con-
demned sect, decorated with the same insignia, were ranged
around it.
In the letter which you addressed to us on the 1st of last August,
you assure us that these insignia had not been seen by you, nor by
your clergy ; that, in one word, they were unknown to you in any
manner ; but you knew very well, Venerable Brother, that the
dead man had during life had the misfortune to be at the
head of that proscribed sect, vulgarly called by the name of
the " Grand Orient," and consequently you might have easily
foreseen that the members of that sect would assist at his
funeral ; and that they would take care to make a parade of
their insignia. You ought therefore in your religious position
to have maturely weighed these considerations, and to have
been on your guard on the occasion of this Funeral, in order
not to have caused by your presence and co-operation the
astonishment and profound grief which all true Catholics have
felt on this occasion. You cannot be ignorant that Masonic
societies, and all other associations of the same iniquitous
character, have been condemned by the Roman Pontiffs,* our
* Clement XII., Constitution Imminenti. Benedict XIV., Constitution
Providos- Pius VII., Constitution Ecclesiam. Leo XII., Constitution Duo
t/n/viora, our Encyclical of the 9th of November, 1840. Et alibi.
176
predecessors, and by oursclf; that even severe penalties have
been enacted against them. These impious sects, having
different denominations, are, in fact, all linked together by
their mutual complicity in the most criminal designs, all being
inflamed with the most intense hatred of our holy religion and
the Apostolic See, and are endeavouring by the dissemination of
pestilential books, and in many other ways, by perverse
manoeuvres and by every kind of devilish artifice, to corrupt all
over the world both morality and belief, and to destroy all honest,
true, and just opinion ; to spread throughout the universe these
monstrous opinions ; to conceal and propagate the most detestable
vices, and every conceivable rascality ; to shake the power of all
legitimate authority, and to compass the overthrow, if it were
possible, of the Catholic Church, and of civil society, and to
drive God Himself out of heaven.
We cannot pass over in silence the accounts thajt have reached
us, that an erroneous and pernicious opinion has been embraced,
namely, that the acts of the Apostolic See do not beget any
obligations, at least, not until they have been clothed by a
warrant for their execution from the civil power.
Now all must see how injurious such an erroneous opinion must
be to the authority of the Church and the Apostolic See, and how
completely it is opposed to the spiritual welfare of all the faithful ;
for the supreme authority of the Church and of the Apostolic See
can never, in any way, be submitted to the power and the will of
any civil power, in anything that is connected in any manner
whatsoever with ecclesiastical affairs and the spiritual government
of souls ; and all those persons who dignify themselves by the
name of Catholic, are completely under obedience to that said
Church, as well as to the Apostolic See, and are bound to testify
the respect and devotion towards them which are their due.
And here again we wish that you should observe that in the
above-mentioned speech in the senate, you bring forward a fact,
which is entirely inexact, that Benedict XIV.,* of blessed
memory, our predecessor, in a Concordat with the king of Sardinia,
had conceded to that monarch the right of royal execution in
relation to pontifical acts. And you assert that the Instruction
* Benedict XIII.
177
annexed to this convention, declares, " That the Papal constitutions
relative to discipline, ought to be submitted to the cognisance of
Parliament, and that they require the royal exequatur to have the
force and obligation of law, with the exception of constitutions and
apostolic letters relating to doctrine or morals." So very false an
assertion could never have been uttered by you, Venerable Brother,
if you had looked at, and carefully examined, the terms of this
Instruction : and here we give the terms of the 3rd Article of that
Instruction :
"lit the Concordat of the Pontiff Benedict the XIII., the
execution of Briefs and Apostolic Bulls is treated of, as can be read
in that Concordat, in which only a simple visa is allowed, without
permitting any signature or requiring any decree for the execution
of the said Briefs or Bulls ; and ive knoiv that all has been
faithfully executed, though it is said with great assurance, and
though it is believed, that neither the Senate nor any other tribunal
has accepted, at the instance of any person, the cognisance of
the justice, or of the pretended injustice, of Bulls and Briefs.
Wishing nevertheless to preserve harmony, if by chance any
objection to the execution of a Butt or Brief should occur, and it
should be desirable to understand the reasons for it, His Majesty's
ministers being sufficiently instructed on the subject, shall inform
cither the minister of the Holy See residing at Turin, or else the
Apostolic minister residing at Home, of the fact. Bulls of Jubilees
and Indulgences are exceptedfrom the simple visa, also the Briefs of
the Holy Penitentiary and letters of the Sacred Congregations of
Rome, which are tvritten to Ordinaries or to other persons as
informations." And those rules relative to their execution have
never been modified in the later conventions between the Apostolic
See and the king of Sardinia.
Gregory XVI., by a Convention made in 1842, with the laie
Jang of Sardinia, Charles Albert, on his personal immunity, restored
in all their vigour all the preceding conventions in all things which
were not disannulled by that said Convention.
Be fully persuaded, Venerable Brother, that our charge as
Sovereign Apostolic Minister, and our Pontifical affection for you,
have made it our duty to communicate these matters to you ; and
we have complete confidence, considering your scrupulous piety,
N
178
that you will accept all the admonitions and instructions which
have heen dictated by our heart : that you will hasten to follow
them ; and that you will attach yourself firmly to them, and vigour-
ously defend the rights and the pure doctrines of the Church, and
inculcate on all the devotion and obedience due to the Apostolic
See, to the vicar of Christ on earth ; and daily fulfil more fully,
and above all other things, in these iniquitous times, all the
duties of a good pastor.
Be certain that we honour you, that we appreciate you, and that
we love yon with an affectionate ardour, and ice hope that the
principal testimony of our benevolence and a good augury of all the
blessings of lieaven may be contained in this Apostolic benediction
icltich we with all the affection of our heart, bestow upon yon,
Vena-able Brother, and upon all the flock confided to your care.
Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, the 26th of October, 1865,
the 20th year of our Pontificate.
BETWEEN
HTJSSIA AND HOME;
BEING A TRANSLATION OF A DESPATCH
FROM PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF TO RUSSIAN
REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD.
Further Beturn respecting the Eelations between Eussia
and Eome ; being Translation of a Despatch from
Prince Grortchakoff to Eussian Eepresentatives
abroad.
Extract from t/te "Journal de St. Peter sbourg" of January 21
and 22, 1867.
ST. PETERSBURG, January 9, 1867.
Despatch from his Excellency the Vice- Chancellor Prince Gortcha-
kqff to the Russian Embassies and Legations, dated St. Peters-
burg, January 7, 1867.
The acts of the Court of Rome having made it impossible for
His Majesty the Emperor to continue diplomatic relations with
the Papal Government, it was found necessary to abandon the
Concordat of 1847, which regulated the relations between the
Imperial Cabinet and the Holy See. *
The Emperor's Ukase confirming this decision is known to you.
This document limits itself to recording the abandonment of tbo
N 2
180
Concordat. It was not accompanied by statements destined to
explain and give reasons for this measure.
This reserve, dictated to the Imperial Cabinet by a regard for
the Holy See, was not maintained by the Papal Government.
It has just published a collection of documents, the object of
which is to free the Holy See from all responsibility, and to cause
it to fall entirely on the Imperial Cabinet. With this aim the
collection records the progress • of this deplorable quarrel with
partiality and inaccuracy.
The Court of Rome thus unburdens us from the scruples
which restrained us. She summons us to the field of discussion,
and makes it our duty to follow her.
The acts of our august Master do not fear the light.
You will find annexed to this a strictly true account of the
acts which ended in the rupture of diplomatic relations between
the two Courts.
You are authorized to give this document the publicity it
deserves.
You will, at the same time, be careful to make it known that,
in following the Court of Rome into this painful discussion, the
Imperial Cabinet is actuated by no hostile intention towards the
Holy See. Their only aim is to establish the truth.
The principles of religious toleration, and the constant solicitude
of the Emperor for all creeds professed in his dominions, do not
the less on that account remain invariable maxims of his political
conscience.
As far as lies in the power of his Imperial Majesty, his Roman
Catholic subjects shall not suffer for the cessation of the friendly
relations which our august Master had tried to maintain with the
Holy See, with respect to their religious interests.
181
ANNEX TO THE DESPATCH.
Historical Sketch of the Acts of the Court of Rome ivhich have
brought about the rupture of Relations between the Holy Sec
and the Imperial Cabinet, and the Abrogation of the Concordat
of 1847.
The principle of religious toleration exists in the Government
traditions as well as in the social customs of Russia. The exercise
of foreign worship was legally admitted in the Empire under the
reign of Peter the Great, subject to certain measures more de-
fensive than prohibitive, and analogous with those adopted by
most of the Catholic States themselves. Since that time those
measures were comprehended in the fundamental laws of the
Empire, and did not impede in any way the principle of the
greatest toleration. The Government had in view solely to place
the dominant Church out of reach of the Propaganda, and to
guarantee the Sovereign- authority against the encroachments of
the Court of Rome, by forbidding Russian subjects professing the
Roman Catholic religion from having direct relations with a
Pontiff who is at the same time a foreign Sovereign.
This Propaganda and these encroachments had developed
themselves with impunity in the provinces of the Empire, whicli
had been, during more than two centuries, subjected to the
domination of the Polish. Republic. Hundreds of thousands of
orthodox people were voluntarily or compulsorily converted to the
Latin Church. And yet a much larger number were compelled
by violent means, recorded by history, to recognize the supremacy
of the Pope, in giving their adhesion to the combination, much
more political than religious, known under the name of the
Union. When those Provinces were liberated from the Polish
domination, and again became Russian, the great Sovereign who
brought about this glorious restoration, far from having recourse
to reprisals, proved her toleration by establishing Catholic dioceses
suitable to local wants, by defraying the expenses of the worship,
founding seminaries, and entrusting the chief administration of
182
the interests of the Roman Catholic Church to an ecclesiastical
college presided over hy a prelate equally virtuous and enlightened.
But, meanwhile, the Empress Catherine expressed herself with
perfect frankness to Pope Pius VI. as follows : —
" If, following the example of my ancestors, I choose to tolerate
in my vast dominions all worships without exception, and among
their number the Roman Catholic religion, I will never allow the
followers of that faith to depend at all on any foreign Power.
This is why all the Bulls and Edicts of the Court of Rome can
only be published in Russia with the Sovereign's consent."
Catherine's successors did not depart from these principles.
When the fate of arms rendered the Emperor Alexander I. the
master of Poland, His Majesty acted towards the Roman Church
with no less generosity and confidence than towards the Polish
nation.
The Romish clergy preserved all the privileges, lands, and in-
fluence which they had acquired.
The crying abuses of clerical power and religious fanaticism,
which had contributed to the downfall of Poland, were scarcely
put an end to. But the clergy having taken part in the insurrec-
tion of 1830 — participation which was admitted and reprobated by
the Holy See itself, by the encyclical letter of August, 1832 — it
became necessary to limit the influence which the clergy had so
wilfully abused.
The Emperor Nicholas saw himself compelled, in consequence,
to place a check upon the material means of action at the disposal
of the Latin clergy in Russia and Poland.
To attain that end, a part of the very large estates accumulated
by the Latin clergy were secularised and appropriated to the real
requirements of worship ; the convents which were not inhabited
by the canonical number of monks or nuns were suppressed ; and
direct relations with the Holy See and all Latin propaganda were
stringently prohibited.
The Court of Rome, which had previously admitted the existence
of the evil, raised obstacles against the execution of the measures
the most proper to cure it.
It protested against some of these measures, and refused its
concurrence or strict adherence to the remainder.
183
In 1845, the Emperor Nicholas happened to be at Rome,
and Gregory XVI. embodied the pretended grievances of the
Holy See in a memorandum which he handed himself to the
Emperor.
Two days after the Emperor answered that note, and his letter
concludes thus : —
" The Emperor begs the Sovereign Pontiff to be firmly con-
vinced that no one desires more than His Majesty to maintain in
Russia, as in Poland, the Roman Church, on a footing at once
dignified and respectable. The prayers of the Emperor embrace
with an equal solicitude, and without any distinction of worship,
the spiritual interests of all the peoples whose destinies have been
entrusted to him by Providence. All that can be done to realize
the intentions of the Holy Father, without materially clashing
with the organic laws of the Empire, or injuring the rights
and canons of the dominant Church, shall be done. The
Emperor's word guarantees it to His Holiness. But, as has
been observed above, there are circumstances and necessities
from which it does not depend upon the will of the Emperor to
free himself."
The Emperor's word was loyally fulfilled by the conclusion of
the Concordat of 1847 ; it granted to the Roman Church all it
was possible to grant within those limits.
But in Russia the Holy See has pretended at all times to the
faculty of going beyond those limits.
" The essence of the Catholic religion is to be intolerant,"
wrote in June, 1804, the Cardinal-Secretary of State, Consalvi, to
Cardinal Caprara.*
It is specially in Poland and in Russia that the Court of Rome
has practised that principle.
In their quality of guardians of the laws of the empire, and
protectors of the rights of the orthodox Church, the Sovereigns of
Russia could not comply with such demands.
And such is the original cause of the endless differences
between the Imperial Court and the Holy See, which, in conse-
* Memoir of Cardinal Consalvi. Correspondence with Cardinal Caprara
on the coronation of Napoleon I.
184
qucnce of acts, the initiative of which was taken by Pius IX., and
for which he must be held responsible, brought on the cessation
of political intercourse and the abrogation of the Concordat of
1847.
This is proved by the succinct analysis of the relations between
the two Courts under the reigning Sovereign.
The personal sentiments of the Emperor Alexander II. and his
intentions towards the Latin Church are faithfully set forth in the
following letter, addressed by his Majesty's order to his Minister
at the Papal Court, dated 13th May, 1863 : —
' The principle of tbe liberty of conscience is deeply engraved
in the conviction of my august Master ; but he understands
it in all its purity, and not in the sense which the Church of
Rome has given to it in all times, in claiming for the Catholic
faith a freedom without limit, to the detriment of the other
religions.
The orthodox Church in its spirit is neither militant nor
propagandist, but it has the right of not being handed over
defenceless to a Church which is both militant and propagandist.
We do not and shall not try to carry off the flock of another
pastor, but it is our right and our duty to see that our
co-religionists should not be diverted from tbeir own faith. In
a word, our Church is not oppressive. It would be strange to
contend that in a country where the immense majority professes
the orthodox faith the national Church should be placed in an
inferior situation.
The Envoy Extraordinary sent by His Holiness to Russia to
be present at the ceremonies of the coronation had an opportunity
of seeing, by the reception given him by the Emperor, the
sincere goodwill with which he was animated towards the Holy
See.
Monsieur Chigi, sent by the Pope to represent His Holiness at
the coronation, had also the mission of addressing to tbe Russian
Government certain claims relative to the interpretation of
some stipulations of the Concordat of 1847. His Holiness's
Ambassador had the opportunity of acquiring the proof of the
goodwill and intentions of the Emperor, who appointed a special
185
committee of high functionaries to inquire into the Holy See's
claims.
The report of that committee was communicated to the Court
of Rome, which has published it with other documents in the
publication entitled " An Exposition, with documents annexed, of
the constant endeavours of the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX. to
remedy the evils from which the Catholic Church suffers in
Russia and Poland."
It shows that all the claims of the Holy See were conscien-
tiously considered, and that ample and immediate satisfaction
was given to each of those claims that was justly grounded, and
not irreconcilable with the organic laws of the Empire and the
Church of the State.
Although those concessions did not fully satisfy the Holy See,
it preserved till 1859 an attitude relatively moderate.
In a letter addressed on the 31st January, 1859, by Pius IX.
to the Emperor Alexander, the Holy Father paid homage " to
the eminent qualities of his Majesty, and offered his most sincere
thanks for having been enabled by the Emperor to fill up some
of the vacant episcopal sees and suffraganships." Then the Holy
Father, among other demands, asked to be permanently repre-
sented in Russia.
The Emperor answered by renewing to His Holiness his
assurances of lively and constant solicitude for the religious
interests of his Roman Catholic subjects. His Majesty at the
same time informed His Holiness that he had instructed his
Minister at Rome to give explanations to Cardinal Antonelli, as
to the details mentioned in the Pope's letter with the mutual
candour and goodwill which preside over the relations of the two
governments.
Unhappily, the Holy See had already begun then to depart
from that sincerity and that benevolence which it completely
threw aside during the sad events which occurred in Poland from
1858 to 1864.
The Emperor Alexander had inaugurated his reign by opening
the gates of their country to some 9,000 exiled Poles. The
kingdom was governed with us much mildness and tolerance as
186
possible. Reforms conceived in a very liberal spirit and
susceptible of future development were adopted.
• Provincial institutions were granted ; the freedom of the
individual was carefully guaranteed ; public instruction, finance,
and judicial institutions obtained the desired encouragement and
improvements.
All these benefits were received with distrust, or with an
ohstinate ill-will which the most patient forbearance failed to
disarm. The upper classes of Polish society organized and
supported an agitation which, thanks to foreign encouragement
and instigation, soon grew to he an insurrection.
The motives which prompted them to this course may be
explained by a simple reference to date.
The abolition of slavery in Russia, which, first of all, seemed,
to offer insurmountable obstacles, was in 1859 on its way to
completion. * So vast a social reform would naturally extend to
Poland, and bring about, by some means or other, the emancipa-
tion of the rural population of the kingdom from the actual, if
not acknowledged, state of servitude in which they are held.
The aristocracy resolved to oppose, at any hazard, a reform which
must, as an inevitahle consequence, sweep away the feudal power
and privileges which they enjoyed. Deserting their past princi-
ples, they encouraged the cosmopolitan revolution, which was
brewing in anticipation of such a reform. The emancipation
ukase was promulgated on the 28th of February, 1861.
On the 24th of the same month the Agricultural Society of
Warsaw assuming the character of a constituent assembly,
adopted the programme ratified by Mieroslawsky, who eight days
after wrote from Paris, that " these resolutions should serve as
the basis of a national rising."
From the origin of these troubles a large portion of the Roman
clergy took part in the revolutionary preparations.
In 1858 more than twenty priests of the diocese of Plock were
legally found guilty of having preached disobedience to the
authority and of having provoked religious agitation under the
pretext of establishing temperance societies.
Other Latin clergymen belonging to the government of
Witebesk were convicted of having, in violation of the organic
187
laws, administered the Holy Sacraments to persons of the
orthodox faith.
These intrigues were known to the Holy See. Mention of
them is made in the collection of Roman documents (pages 154
and 160). But far from heing disapproved, the statement of
the Secretary of State (page 38) praises those in fault, and
recriminates against the Russian authorities.
This attitude on the part of the Papal Court, and the encour-
agements lavished on them by Rome, through secret and illegal
channels, as we shall show later, soon incited a large number of
the Latin clergy of the kingdom to take that course by which
they have so seriously compromised the dignity of the Christian
priesthood and the religious and material interests of the flock
which was entrusted to them.
Profiting by their influence over the lower classes of society,
particularly the women, and by making use of that powerful
weapon, the confessional, the clergy arranged and propagated
the revolutionary organization. Religious fanaticism and the
habit of constantly, and without scruple, interfering in temporal
matters, together with the laxity of discipline among the regular
and secular clergy, cemented this sacrilegious union between the
Church and Revolution. The history of the part taken by the
Romish clergy in the last revolution in Poland has been faithfully
related in a published onicial document.*
We must of necessity record here some of the data contained
in that document, in order that the part may be appreciated
which the Court of Rome thought fit to play during the sorrowful
events of which Poland was the scene.
The first demonstration of importance took place on the llth
June, 1860, on the occasion of a funeral. The Franciscan monk,
Spleszynski, here preached an extremely violent revolutionary
sermon.
Immediately afterwards seditious exhortations resounded from
the pulpits ; first at Warsaw, then in the provinces. Printed
collections of revolutionary songs, and portraits of the coryphei of
* Report of the Special Commission appointed at Warsaw by supreme
order in 1864.
188
the revolution were openly sold in almost every church. In the
capital and in several other towns, the monks placed statues of
the Virgin and the Saints, with lamps and lighted candles, in
front of the monasteries, and exhorted the idle crowd to sing
seditious songs.
These excitements often provoked deplorable scenes, as, for
instance, at the door of the Church of the Sainte Croix, near
Radom, after a sermon from the monk Bernardin Casimir, one of
the principal promoters of religious assemblies, the mob nearly
tore to pieces a man and woman, whom for some reason they
suspected.
In 1861 began a series of processions, which were confessedly
political demonstrations. At the same time, as if with the
intention of proving that these were not the acts of individuals,
but a systematic organised insurrection among the clergy,
numerous meetings of secular priests and monks took place
throughout the kingdom. At one of them, convoked on the
14th of November, at Lysa Grora, more than 300 priests and
monks assembled to give seditious lectures and make public
prayers for the success of the revolution.
The most numerous and important of these assemblies was
that of the clergy of Podlachia, in November, 1862. There a
resolution was unanimously adopted ratifying "the intimate and
solid unison established between the clergy and the revolutionary
party."
The deputies of other dioceses adhered to a programme of
action strictly revolutionary, which only made reservations in
favour of the rights of the Roman Catholic Church, and which
imposed, among others, this obligation on members of the clergy :
" They must put upon their oath all people charged with any
operations by the central committee."
It is not unknown that most of these operations had assassina-
tion in view, and it is grievous to record that several priests not
only administered the oath to the operators, but also were
themselves their associates or substitutes.
Suffice it to say, in summing up these data, that more than
500 Roman Catholic priests were legally convicted of direct and
active participation in the bloody acts of the Polish insurrection.
189
At the very beginning of these criminal attempts the Imperial
Cabinet informed the Holy See of them, and claimed the
interference of the Pope's supreme authority to bring back the
Latin clergy to the peaceable fulfilment of their holy duties.
The first appeal having failed, and the Diocesan Chapter of
"Warsaw having wished to increase popular agitation by closing
the Churches, the Vice-Chancellor of the Empire addressed the
following letter, dated October 9, 1861, to his Majesty's Minister
at Home : —
" I send you a copy of a report from Count Lambert (the
Emperor's Lieutenant at Warsaw) on recent events. By that
you will see the part played by the Roman Catholic clergy of the
kingdom — a part which has not varied from the first moment
of the troubles. If they have caused the churches of Warsaw to
be closed because they believe them to have been profaned, I
think that they have done themselves justice. The profanation
dates from the day on which human passions penetrated into
the sacred building, and seditious hymns took the place of sounds
of Christian piety. In this respect, certainly, there was profana-
tion, and if the clergy, after purifying the churches, reopened
them, determined only to tolerate in them that which the com-
mandments of the Lord prescribe, they will only have done their
duty. Yet I doubt whether that is the feeling which animates
them. On the contrary, it occurs to me that it is their intention
to extend their measure of closing the churches throughout the
whole kingdom, to place the country, so to speak, under ecclesi-
astical interdict, and to deprive the faithful of the grace of the
Divine Word, in order to minister to passions altogether worldly.
I should like still to be able to doubt their daring to go to
this extreme ; if, in spite of warnings which have been given
them on that subject, they overstep it, I shall fulfil my duty
by denouncing the act to justice and to the justice of His
Holiness.
" For the present I will not charge you with any formal
application to the Holy See — I do not wish to renew to-day an
appeal which has not been listened to — but I authorize you to
lay before Cardinal Antonelli Count Lambert's letter, and that
which I am now writing to you.
190
" The entire confidence I place in the intelligence of his
Eminence forbids me to doubt his comprehending, in the very
interests of religion, the object of the attitude of the Roman
Catholic clergy of the kingdom, and acknowledging, when
informed of what is passing, the necessity of remedying it."
This communication, supported by such convincing documents,
was only evasively received. His Eminence Cardinal Antonelli,
after having received the Pope's orders, said to M. de Kisseleff,
that " His Holiness had disapproved, confidentially, the behaviour
of the Polish clergy." But when his Majesty's Minister de-
manded that this disapprobation should be publicly expressed,
the Cardinal Secretary of State answered " that His Holiness
was the less at liberty to interfere openly in this question,
because the Polish clergy complain of the hindrances they
encounter in the exercise of their religious duties, because the
Holy See has no free and direct communication with them, and
because, as it has no representative in Russia, it is without
any official source of information, or any direct means of
interfering with a body of clergy with whom it has no free
or direct relations.*
Appreciating the gravity of the circumstances, and wishing to
avoid the least excuse for ill-feeling, the Imperial Cabinet resolved
to make a most important concession to the Holy See by sanction-
ing the despatch of a Roman Prelate to Russia.
Prince Gortchakoff consequently addressed a despatch to M.
Kisseleff, by his Majesty's orders, in which the following words
occurred : —
" In transmitting to you the august words of His Holiness, his
Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of State detailed to you the
complaints of the Polish clergy relative to the hindrances which
they meet with in the exercise of their religious duties, and par-
ticularly of the want of free and direct communication between
the Holy See and their own clergy, which deprive the Court of
Rome of all source of communication and all means of acting.
His Eminence ended by letting you understand that His Holiness
would have liked to have been able send some Prelate to Warsaw
* M. Kisseleff 's report, dated Eorae, 29th October (10th November), 1861.
191
to convey thither his advice and admonitions to the Roman
Catholic clergy.
" If in the Russian Empire, as in many other countries, even
those which profess the Roman Catholic religion, the relations
between the clergy and an authority existing outside the State
ought to be regulated by certain formalities, this is by virtue of
a political principle generally allowed in Europe and a Concordat
freely concluded with the Holy See. It could not, then, be
derogatory to this rule, which in no way impedes the relations
between the Catholic clergy and the Holy See, but limits itself
to constituting its form and mode of proceeding.
" Our august Master considers it one of his most sacred duties
to ensure the most complete liberty of conscience to all his sub-
jects, and the fullest protection to all religious ministers, in the
exercise of their spiritual mission, no matter what faith they
belong to. In assigning to them as limits the laws prescribed by
the general interests of the country, his Imperial Majesty only
adopts a course in conformity with a necessity which exists for
all sovereigns in every country. He does not think that, in
enforcing on the clergy the condition of being forbidden to cause
disorder, disunion, or scandal, these laws force on them obligations
inconsistent with their mission of peace and charity, or which
would not leave them the latitude necessary for its fulfilment.
But, except in regard to these indispensable conditions, the
Emperor has taken for his guidance, ever since his accession to
the throne, the principles of the most extensive tolerance ; and
you may reiterate, Sir, to his Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of
State the assurance of the attention which his Majesty will always
be ready to grant specially to the spiritual wants of his Roman
Catholic subjects. It is with the object of giving a fresh proof of
this that our august Master has taken into serious consideration
the desire manifested by His Holiness to be able to send to Russia
a prelate charged to convey his admonition and advice to the
Polish clergy.
" The Emperor is disposed to consent to it as a proof of his
affectionate deference for His Holiness.
" His Imperkl Majesty invokes the fullest light upon all his
acts ; what he repels is calumny, which destroys confidence. A
192
delegate from His Holiness will be able to appreciate with his
own eyes and to inform His Holiness faithfully of the true state
of affairs. He will convince himself that the events which have
actually occurred in the Kingdom of Poland are in no way caused
by religion ; which has, on the contrary, been lowered, by dis-
graceful profanation, into the arena of human passions." *
In making this communication, M. de Kisseleff let the Cardinal
Secretary of State understand that the Imperial Cabinet would
even be pleased to see the Prelate's provisionary mission changed
to a permanent one. But whilst the Holy See "secretly" dis-
approved of the behaviour of the Polish clergy, and profited by
the state of affairs so as to ask for and obtain such important
concessions, His Holiness wrote and caused to be conveyed to the
Archbishop of "Warsaw, Monsignor Fialkowski, a brief containing
nothing but encouragement to the Polish clergy, besides an ex-
pression of his Pontifical sympathy for the wishes of the Polish
people, which he termed legitimate, in spite of their violent and
turbulent manifestations.
The existence of this brief had been revealed after the death of
Archbishop Fialkowski by the publications of two organs devoted
to the Court of Rome. It was scarcely possible to doubt its
authenticity ; nevertheless, it was only in a doubtful manner that
the Imperial Cabinet protested against the tenor of this brief,
and against the illegality of its communication by any but the
established channels.
The Cardinal Secretary of State, without exactly denying the
existence of the brief, furnished M. de Kisseleff with the follow-
ing explanations : —
' His Holiness," said he, " is obliged to defend himself against
the accusations of not showing enough zeal in support of the
interests of the Church.
"Besides, there was no brief, speaking strictly, but only a
letter from the Pope, written in Latin, it is true, but not ' on
parchment,' emanating from the Secretary of Latin Letters, and
not from the Chancery of briefs. "f
'* Prince Gortchakoff's despatch to M. de Kisseleff, dated St. Petersburg,
November 27, 1861.
t M. de Kisseleff's report, dated December 19 (31), 1861.
193
These subtleties did not at all diminish the weight of an Act
emanating from the Sovereign Pontiff himself, the authenticity of
which the Court of Rome to this day acknowledges, by inserting
it (page 168, doc. 55) in the official collection which she has just
published.
In the meanwhile, as the Archbishop of Warsaw, Monsignor
Fialkowski, was deceased, the Court of Rome insisted 011 trie
advisability of naming his successor promptly. The Imperial
Cabinet immediately deferred to this wish by nominating the
Abbe Feliiiski to the Archiepiscopal see.
His Holiness was pleased himself to tell M. de Kisseleff, during
an audience granted to this minister on the 15 (27) December, 1861,
how much this choice satisfied him, and "that he sincerely thanked
the Emperor for his Majesty's sentiments and actions of good- will
towards his own person, as well as with the intention of perfecting
the friendly relations between the two Courts."
His Holiness, besides, expressed a wish that the Prelate whom he
proposed to send on a temporary mission to Russia might remain
there, with the title of permanent representative of the Holy See.
A short time afterwards (March, 1862), Cardinal Antonelli
informed M. de Kisseleff, in confidence, that Monsignor Berardi
had been nominated to discharge the functions of Nuncio at St.
Petersburg.
But, at the same time, the Cardinal Secretary of State put a
question to his Majesty's Minister which clearly denoted the
intention of Rome only to accept so important a concession by
redoubling its demands.
" Will the laws which forbid all direct communication between
the Holy See and the Catholic clergy be applicable to the Legate?"
asked his Eminence.
M. de Kisseleff having requested the Cardinal to put this
question in writing, in order that he might refer it to his Court
and receive a precise answer, his Eminence enumerated in a
note-verbale all the laws of the Empire which he thought it would
be desirable to do away with, and of whose existence the Court
of Rome had more than once pretended to be ignorant.*
* Report of M. do Kisscleff, dated 27th February (llth March), 1802,
and its iiiclosures.
o
194
The answer of the Imperial Cabinet was not long waited for.
Whilst instructing M. de Kisseleff " to express the satisfaction
of the Emperor at the choice of Mousignor Berardi, and the
hope that the presence of this Prelate in Russia will enlighten
His Holiness as to the spirit and tendencies of the acts of the
Imperial Administration, and will dispel the prejudices which
malice is attempting to raise up between the two Governments,"
the Vice- Chancellor of the Empire informed M. de Kisseleff by
order of the Emperor, on 27th March, 1862—
" That the regulations in question did certainly extend to the
Nuncios the principle which demands the mediation of the
Imperial Government in all official communications of the Holy
See with the clergy in the Empire and Kingdom ; that, in
adopting that rule, which ought to be maintained, political
considerations of a higher order were obeyed, and not any feeling
of distrust or ill-will ; that the Sovereign, the only judge of the
general interests of the State, amongst which those of religion
have a title to all his attention, is himself alone able to appreciate
the whole body of these interests, and to cause them to converge
towards the final goal which lies before him —the welfare of the
country.
" That if these principles apply to the official communications
which the Pontifical Court is in a position to address to the
clergy, there is all the more reason why they should apply to the
communications of the Apostolic Nuncio, who is only the delegate
and representative of the Holy See.
"And, lastly, that these principles, generally admitted, even in
countries where the Catholic religion predominates, have not
there been found irreconcileable with the presence of a permanent
Nuncios."*
The Court of Home could not reasonably require the Sovereign
of an empire in which the orthodox religion predominates to
grant to the Apostolic Nuncios a wider prerogative than is
enjoyed by the representatives of the Holy See in France, for
instance, where the Roman Catholic religion is that of the State.
* Despatch of Prince Gortchakoff to M. de Kisseleff, dated the 27th
March, 1862.
195
Now, the French legislation defines clearly the position of the
Nuncio.
The first article of the organized constitutions, forming a
continuation of the Concordat of 1801, and rigorously observed
up to the present time, forbids all communication from the Court
of Rome without the control of the Government.
The 2nd article of the same constitution is conceived as follows :
"No individual calling himself Nuncio, Legate, Apostolic
Vicar, or Commissioner, will be able, without being authorised
by the Government, to exercise, either on French soil or else-
where, any function relating to Church matters."
The 207th and 208th articles of the French penal code
assign rigorous punishment (a fine of 500 francs, imprisonment
from a month to two years' banishment) to any infringement of
these laws.
A quite recent incident proves that the Sovereign Pontiff
accepts these regulations of the French legislation, and orders
his representatives to submit to them, and that the argument of
"non possumus," laid down by the Court of Rome with regard to
Russia, is not tenable in justice and logic.
When in 1865 the Apostolic Nuncio at Paris, Monsignor
Chigi, addressed letters, by other than the legal channels to the
Bishops of Orleans and Poitiers, which were published, the
French Ambassador at Rome brought a complaint against this
infringement of the existing laws. The Holy See hesitating
about giving the required satisfaction, the French Government
reiterated its demands. Monsignor Chigi was disavowed, and
the Moniteur Unicersel of February 7 (19), 1865, stated that "the
Nuncio expressed his regrets to his Majesty the Emperor at a
private audience, and assured him that he never had intended to
set aside the respect due to the rules of international law."
To explain the persistency with which the Court of Rome
made demands which she knew well were inadmissible, to
account for the delays, intentionally caused by her, in settling an
affair which she had so much at heart a short time before, it
will be sufficient to remember that at this very time the revived
troubles in Poland had served as a starting-point and pretext for
a course of diplomacy directed against Russia, the effects of which
o 2
196
will not be slow to manifest themselves in attempts, on the part
of several of the European Cabinets, to meddle with the Home
affairs of the Empire.
The Court of Rome, more than any other, adopted this course.
There is every reason to believe that this was the chief cause for
acts which it will be sufficient to enumerate to demonstrate with
conclusive evidence that the origin and the responsibility of the
existing rupture between the two Courts and the repeal of the
Concordat of 1847, belong to the Pontifical Government.
At the very moment when the negotiations relating to the
appointment of Nuncios were becoming complicated, and when
the Imperial Cabinet was giving repeated proofs of its sincere
intention of bringing them to an end, Pius IX., secretly and in
opposition to the established laws of the Empire, wrote a letter
to the new Archbishop of Warsaw, in which His Holiness took
the place, so to speak, of the Sovereign of the country, and invited
Monsignor Felinski to absent himself from his diocese to appear
at Home at a moment when his presence scarcely sufficed to force
the clergy of the kingdom to return to the fulfilment of their
duties which they were neglecting more and more every day.
On informing M. de Kisseleff of this fresh infringement of in-
ternational stipulations, the Yice- Chancellor again observed : —
" We sincerely wish for the most friendly relations with the
Pontifical Government. We have given it proofs of this ; never-
theless, I must needs tell you with profound regret, but with
deep conviction, that the road which that Government seems
desirous of taking is not that which leads to an understanding.
If the Court of Rome chooses to take for granted, as a starting-
point, that one concession ought to lead to others ad infinitum,
she is giving herself up to an illusion which it is my duty, con-
sidering the good understanding which we wish to bring about
with her, to dispel at the onset."*
What is important to state is, that the clandestine commu-
nications of the Holy See had the immediate effect of increasing
the disturbances and encouraging the manifestations of the Polish
clergy.
* Letter of Prince Gortchakoft' to M. de Kisseleff, llth April, 1862.
197
Scarcely had Monsignor Felinski received the Pope's letter
than he thought he ought to release himself from all obedience to
the authorities of the realm ; nay, he did not even care to keep
on good terms with them.
The Government having been informed that the procession
habitually celebrated at Warsaw on St. Mark's Day was going to
be accompanied by disturbances, requested the Archbishop of
Warsaw to allow the ceremony to take place this time inside the
church, and not in the streets.
The Archbishop entrenched himself behind the question of
principle, and, in spite of the repeated prayers of the authorities,
in spite of prohibition published in the newspapers and communi-
cated to each priest, he ordered the clergy to celebrate this pro-
cession with unusual pomp.
The disorders that had been foreseen broke out, blood was
nearly spilt in the streets of Warsaw, and when the Emperor's
Lieutenant demanded explanations of Monsignor Felinski, this
Archbishop answered : —
" That the clergy had acted by his orders ; that he himself
would place himself at the head of future processions, in spite of
any prohibition made by the Government ; that he absolutely
disputed with the latter the right of forbidding the free exercise
of religion ; that if he found it necessary he would go as far as to
close the churches ; and lastly, that he ' preferred seeing 10,000
men dead on the ground ' to yielding one particle of the right
which the canonical laws acknowledged to be his."
This language was reported at Home, but incurred no canonical
disapprobation.
Moreover, at this period (April, 1863) the Holy See was openly
associated with the diplomatic coalition organised against Russia.
Pius IX. on the 22nd April, 1863, despatched to His Majesty
the Emperor a letter actuated by "the lively interest mani-
fested on all sides both by nations and Governments in favour
of Poland," in which letter after bavins: enumerated at length
the pretended impediments placed in the way of the exercise of
the Roman Catholic religion, His Holiness not only claimed for
the Romish clergy prerogatives incompatible with the inde-
pendence and the security of the State, as well as with the
198
exercise of the Sovereign's authority, but also the right of "direct-
ing the people and exercising their influence on public instruction"
(die il ckro ricuperi la sua influenza nel imegnamento e direzion
delpopolo.)
In a secret Consistory held at Rome on the 29th October, 1866,
Pius IX. made the following assertion : —
" Neither the demands addressed to the Russian Government
by our Cardinal- Secretary of State, nor the letters addressed by
us to the Emperor, have had any result. Our letter of the 23rd
of April, 1863, remains unanswered."
" Nihil autem valuernnt nosirce expostulationes per nostrum
Cardinalem a publicis negotiis factfe apud ilium Gubernium, niliil
nostrce Utter ce ad ipsum Serenissimum Principem scripts (22nd
April, 1863) quibus nullum fuit datum responsirm" (" Roman
Documents," Appendix C, p. 303.)
It is with deep regret that we are obliged to show the inaccu-
racy of this assertion.
The Emperor received the letter in question April 29th, .1863.
On the llth of May of the same year His Majesty despatched an
answer to His Holiness which a special messenger conveyed to
Rome, and which was placed in the hands of his Eminence Car-
dinal Antonelli by M. de Kisseleff, on the 20 May (1 June,) 1863.
This letter of response was expressed in the following terms:
" Most Holy Father, — My Minister at Rome has transmitted
to me the letter of your Holiness. I have read it with the
attention that I always give to all communications which emanate
from you, and whose subject is the important interests which
you and I have to guard. Nevertheless, I regret that your
Holiness speaks to me only of past acts. Your Holiness sees in
certain unsatisfied claims of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Kingdom of Poland the exclusive cause of the disorders which
are actually afflicting that country. Yet there are few States in
Europe which have been more cruelly tried by the attacks of
revolution than those in which the Roman Catholic Church
exercises unlimited authority. We must conclude from this
that the evil has other causes. These I pai'tly laid before
your Holiness when I drew your attention to the reprehensible
behaviour, nay the crimes, of a large number of the Roman
199
Catholic clergy of the Kingdom of Poland. I did so, not to raise
up grievances, but in the firm persuasion that it would suffice to
enlighten your Holiness as to certain excesses sufficiently worthy
of condemnation to cause you to find in your conscience the
accents of indignation, and in your spiritual authority the influ-
ence necessary to bring back to a sense of their duty those members
of the clergy who had so seriously neglected it.
" This alliance of religious ministers with the abettors of dis-
orders which threaten society is one of the most revolting acts of
our age. Your Holiness ought to be as anxious as I am to bring
it to an end.
" It was with the object of preventing so deplorable a situa-
tion that I deferred to a constant wish of your Holiness and of
your august predecessors, and expressed last year my approval
of an Apostolic Nuncio. I regret the obstacles which, indepen-
dent of my will, have put off up to the present time the realisa-
tion of this project. I am still ready to receive an Envoy from
your Holiness, and to welcome him with the cordial feelings which
I desire to see presiding over our relations. I am convinced that
a direct understanding, based on the Concordat concluded between
my Government and that of your Holiness, would lead to the
enlightnient which I desire, in order to dispel the misconceptions
caused by erroneous or malicious reports, and would usefully
serve the cause of political order and religious interests, which are
inseparable at a period when both have to defend themselves from
the attacks of revolution. Every act of my reign and my solici-
tude for the spiritual wants of my subjects of every faith are a
pledge for the sentiments which I shall infuse into it.
" I beg your Holiness to accept the repeated assurance of my
high consideration, and sincere esteem.
(Signed) "ALEXANDER."
At the same time the Vice- Chancellor of the Empire instructed
his Majesty's Minister at Rome to inform the Holy See that " as
regards the position of the Nuncio at the Imperial Court, the
Emperor is inclined to adopt as a rule the law in force in France,
where the Roman Catholic religion is that of the country."
M. de Kisseleff was, besides, furnished with a circumstantial
memorandum in which the grievances raised in the Pope's letter
200
were reduced to their just value by a series of acts and figures
difficult to refute.
Lastly, in a confidential letter addressed to M. de Kisseleff,
Prince Gortchakoff, foreseeing cases for which these concessions
would still seem insufficient, made the following remarks : —
" I am not far from believing that the Court of Rome has
still greater aspirations ; but it appears to me that it would be
difficult for her to confess to them, as that would entail throwing
off her mask before all Europe. If the Papal Government is not
content to see her Envoy received on the same footing as one
who resides in a country which is essentially Roman Catholic,
the responsibility of a refusal will not fall on us, and you would
then take care that the facilities offered by the Imperial Cabinet
should not be ignored.*
It is worth noticing that, in the Roman Collection, the slightest
allusion to documents of such importance, or to the negotiations
which were their consequence, is carefully avoided.
Nevertheless, it is certain that M. de Kisseleff exchanged with
the Cardinal Secretary of State long explanations on the subject
of the Pope's correspondence with the Emperor. With regard
to sending the Nuncio, his Eminence even asked the Russian
Minister what was meant by " the position of the representative
of the Holy See in Paris." He took pains to show a distinc-
tion between the theory of the French legislation and their
practice, in virtue of which the restrictive stipulations of the
organic institutions would not be made use of in France. This
perseverance, in making the sending of the Nuncio dependent on
the concession of prerogatives which even France, though a
Roman Catholic country, has always refused to the Holy See, as
is proved by the incident which occurred in 1865, and is related
above, revealed second thoughts which the Imperial Cabinet had
a right to distrust, and which entailed, as a necessary conse-
quence, the abandonment of that combination for the present as
well as for the future. His Holiness, too, expressed himself very
clearly in this respect. On the 6th of June, 1863, having
granted M. de Kisseleff a private audience, His Holiness, after
* Despatch and confidential letter from Prince Gortchakoff to M. de
Kisseleff, May llth, 1803.
201
conversing for some time about the Emperor's letter the exis-
tence of which is now denied, added " That he thought the state
of affairs was too critical for the presence of a Nuncio at St.
Petersburg to be of any practical utility, and that under existing
circumstances it would be embarrassing."*
The ill-will and hostility of the Court of Rome manifested
themselves at this period in exact proportion to the difficulties, at
home and abroad, which the Imperial Government had to fight
against.
On August 31 the Cardinal Vicar of Rome published an edict,
inviting the inhabitants of the capital to take part in a procession
destined to disarm the Divine wrath which was excited by
the growing want of faith and the iniquities which characterize
the unhappy century in which we live.
After citing as a proof of this Divine wrath the cattle-plague
now raging in the Papal States, the Cardinal Vicar ended his
edict by saying : — " Besides, it is the will of His Holiness that
under these circumstances special prayers be made for unfortunate
Poland, which we see with grief become the scene of massacres
and bloodshed. The Polish nation, always having been Catholic,
has served as a bulwark against the invasion of error; certainly,
therefore, she deserves to be prayed for, in order that she may be
freed from the evils by which she is afflicted, may never lose her
reputation, and may always show herself to be faithful to the
charge which has been entrusted to her."
Meanwhile the Russian nation nocked round the Throne with
a readiness almost unexampled in history. They declared to the
whole world that they were prepared to spill the last drop of
their blood to defend the dignity of their Sovereign and the
integrity of their national territory.
An armed force quelled the insurrection. Foreign interference
grew slack, and became exhausted for want of combination and
elements of action. The painful but unavoidable work of putting
down the insurrection once accomplished, the Emperor owed it
to himself as well as to the evident interests of all his subjects, to
prevent the recurrence of such calamitous disturbances, by
* Despatches of M. de Kisseleff, June 8th (20th), 1803. Nos. 41, 42, 43.
202
remedying one by one the organic vices which throve in Polish
society. A series of reforms, prompted by the teaching of
experience, as well as of political shrewdness, were studied,
debated, and perfected ; and it is from the increased but undis-
turbed application of these that will result, with God's help, the
salutary and desirable work of the real regeneration of a nation
of the same stock, the same race, and governed by the same
sceptre as the Russian people, and whose destiny is consequently
inseparable from that of Russia.
Of these reforms none were perhaps so urgent as those which
were adopted with regard to the Roman Catholic clergy of
the kingdom.
The number of monastic institutions had multiplied endlessly,
and the facts set forth above showed the active part taken in the
insurrection by the regular clergy.
In spite of the canonical laws, and the Bull of Benedict XIV.,
of May 2, 1744, there were in the kingdom seventy-five convents
which existed contrary to the prescriptions of this Bull. These
convents were suppressed ; their lands were secularized, and
their* revenues devoted to the maintenance of the retained
cloisters, as well as to charity and public instruction.
Like measures were taken with regard to the parochial clergy.
The revenues of these latter were divided as injudiciously as they
were unfairly. The large majority of the parish priests were
left in want, whilst the higher clergy and a few favoured ones
realized enormous sums.
An end was put to that sad state of things by a series of
measures in conformity with those which were adopted in more
than one Catholic State.
It was impossible to maintain in their episcopal sees the
prelates who had rendered themselves conspicuous by their
illegalities and animosities against the Government.
Archbishop Felinski was sent to Yaroslaw, but preserved his
jurisdiction and his salary. However, having broken his word by
sending to his vicar, Rzewuski, secret instructions ordering him
to keep on the ecclesiastical mourning in the kingdom, he was
ultimately deprived of the administration of his diocese.
The Government acted with 'even less severity towards
203
Monsignor Kalinski, the United Greek Bishop of Chelm, in spite
of the active part he took in the insurrectionary movement, and
the fanaticism with which he took pains to impose on his flock the
rites and ceremonies of the Romish Church ; the authorities
of the kingdom received orders not to consent to the consecration
of this bishop.
On the 24th of April, 1864, the Pope delivered at the College
of the Propaganda an allocution, the violence of which it was
afterwards sought to weaken, and the terms of which were
contested, but it is certain that his Majesty the Emperor was
personally accused " of tormenting and oppressing the Church,
of attacking the Catholic faith, and persecuting unfortunate
people for having remained true to death to the religion of
Christ."
The Pope repeated that accusation in his Encyclical Letter of
July 30, 1864, to the Bishops of Poland, whom he exhorted
to remain constant and persevering.
The Emperor could not, consistently with his own dignity,
continue to be represented at the Court of a Sovereign thus
acting towards His Majesty, and M. de KisselefT was recalled
from Rome. The management of the Imperial Legation at
Rome was left to the First Secretary, Baron Meyendorff, who
was instructed to observe an absolute reserve and to refrain from
any diplomatic initiative. Meantime, the Imperial Government,
seeing it was useless to entertain regular relations with a Govern-
ment the bad disposition of which was manifested by such acts,
confined itself to acknowledge the communications from Rome
without any commentary.
Baron Meyendorff, who had abstained from going to the
Vatican for nearly a year, was unofficially told that his abstention
was producing a painful impression, and that the Roman
Government would be glad that it ceased.
He asked for instructions from his Government, and was
authorized to offer his homage to the Holy Father on the
occasion of the reception of the diplomatic body at Christmas.
On December 27, 1865, he had the honour of being received
by the Pope.
The incidents, much to be regretted, of that interview have
204
been published and interpreted in the most inaccurate manner.
No one having been present at that interview, it would have
been necessary to oppose the assertions of a simple diplomatic
functionary to those of the Sovereign Pontiff. The Imperial
Cabinet abstained from doing so for reasons easy to appreciate.
But the Court of Rome thought fit to raise so delicate a
question. In doing so it has published official documents, and
backed them by assertions which it is impossible not to rectify
now.
After enumerating the questions touched upon by His Holiness
in this audience, the official narrator of the Holy See expresses
himself as follows : —
" Yet the Charge d' Affaires did not hesitate to contest the
authenticity of such notorious facts. After some allusions,
unseemly in the presence of His Holiness, he presumed to say
that nothing of this sort would have happened if the Catholics
had behaved like the Protestants, for the latter having sup-
ported the Government during the insurrection, had received
many favours refused to the Catholics on account of their hostile
attitude ; and he pushed his audacity to the conclusion that
there was nothing surprising in the way the Catholics had acted,
as Catholicism is identical with revolution. On this reply, the
Pope, inflamed with just indignation, and feeling that the cause
of the faithful (whose august chief he is) was generally insulted,
dismissed him, answering — ' I esteem and respect his Majesty the
Emperor, but I cannot say as much for his Charge d' Affaires,
who, contrary to his Sovereign's orders, I am sure, has come and
insulted me in my cabinet/ "*
Although we wish to spare the adherents of the Roman
Catholic religion details which can only vex them, it is necessary
to repel some of these assertions.
The Russian Charge d' Affaires did not allow himself to say
that Catholicism and revolution were one and the same thing.
What he said was, that in Poland, Catholicism had allied itself
to revolution. That fact, profoundly to be regretted, had become
* Roman Documents, pages 53 and 54.
205
historical ; it had been reported to the Holy See more than once,
on whom alone it depended to prevent it.
His Holiness having attributed to the Emperor the intention of
persecuting the Church, his Majesty's Charge d' Affaires was able
and bound to oppose to this most gratuitous assertion a truth,
melancholy, no doubt, but incontrovertible. As the Russian
Charge d'Affaires had been abruptly dismissed by the Pope, all
diplomatic relations with the Court of Rome became impossible,
and the Imperial Cabinet consequently sent Baron Meyendorff
orders to acquaint Cardinal Anton elli that, after the reception he
had had from His Holiness, his mission was ended, as the
Emperor could not maintain at the Papal Court a representative
whose dignity was not sheltered from all attack.
Baron Meyendorff obeyed his orders on the 9th February,
1866. Cardinal Anton elli, after expressing his regret, asked
him if he was to consider this a recall of the Imperial Legation.
Baron Meyendorff answered that he was awaiting fresh orders at
Rome, and only acting as transactor of passing business, and that
the mechanism of" the Legation would continue to discharge
its functions.
This state of affairs lasted till the 13th of March. Cardinal
Antonelli then told Baron Meyendorff officially, " That since he
declared his political mission to be ended, the Court of Rome
looked upon the Russian Legation as no longer existing ; that if
the Pope had not sent him his passports, it was only because His
Holiness knew that he must depart in a few weeks, and because,
as he had said that he was staying at Rome till further commands,
in order to transact current business, his Eminence had consented
that the Legation should continue its functions in order that be-
fore its departure it might have every facility for settling the
same ; and lastly, that it was not the Pope's intention to allow
a new Russian Legation to be formed at Rome after the departure
of Baron Meyendorff ; and that, as for the interests of Russian
subjects, Baron Meyendorff might entrust them to the Embassy
of some other Power."
After that declaration the Second Secretary of Legation, left
at Rome to keep the archives, received the order to take down
the Russian arms from the hotel, and declare to Cardinal
206
Antonclli that "the Pope having taken the initiative of the
breaking off of the relations, His Majesty declined the responsi-
bilities that might ensue."
In one of the official communications of the Court of Rome
the Cardinal Secretary of State wrote in 1865 : —
" That His Holiness hoped that the Emperor would not put
his conscience to the unavoidable necessity of revealing to the
whole world the series of prejudices from which the Roman
Catholic Church is continually suffering in the Imperial and
Royal territory."*
He received the following answer to his threat : —
" The conscience of our august Master absolves him from all
intention of oppressing the Catholic religion. We shall look for-
ward with perfect calmness to the execution of the threat which
terminates the memorandum of Cardinal Antonelli."
The above facts bear witness that the Imperial Cabinet had
very strong motives for not fearing this appeal to public opinion,
and that in abrogating the Concordat of 1847, after having
exhausted all attempts at reconciliation, it only accepted the
consequences of a position, the origin and responsibility of which
belong to the Holy See.
* Memorandum from the Cardinal Secretary of State, dated 30th Jan.,
1865.
20:
LETTER OF THE LATE COUNT MONTALEMBERT,
ON ULTRAMONTANISM AND PAPAL INFALLI-
BILITY, WRITTEN NOT LONG BEFORE HIS
DEATH.
Paris, the 28th of February, 1870.
"Sir, — Since you are good enough to interest yourself in my
former speeches and in my present opinions, you probably are
aware that for several years past I have suffered from an incurable
malady which forbids my writing and walking, and only at long
intervals leaves me sufficient leisure, and my mind sufficiently
free, to busy myself with the labours or the questions to which
my life has been devoted. Thus will be explained to you my
very involuntary delay in replying to the letter you did me the
honour to address to me on the 16th of this month, respecting
the contradiction you think you discern between my speeches on
the Chapter of St. Denys, in tbe Chamber of Peers in 1847, and
my approbation of the recent letters addressed by Father Gratry
to Monseigneur the Archbishop of Malines. I desire first to
thank you, Sir, for having thus afforded me an opportunity of
reverting to a period now so distant, at the same time that I
•explain myself on the questions of the day.
"That said, I beg you to observe that the Gallicanism of which
I was the resolute and victorious adversary twenty-five years ago
had only the name in common with that with which you reproach
the Rev. Father Gratry. The Gallicanism I then called a mummy
was no other than that which my old colleague and friend, Count
Daru, ridiculed the other day when he said, in replying to M.
Rouland, ' You are mistaking the century.1" It was solely the
oppressive or vexatious intervention of the temporal power in
spiritual interests : an interference which a portion of our old and
illustrious French clergy had sometimes too easily accepted. But
I venture to say that you will not find, any more in my speech of
1847 than in my other speeches or writings, a single word in con-
formity with the doctrines or pretensions of the Ultramontanes of
the present day; and that for an excellent reason — which is, that
p
208
nobody had thought of advocating or raising them during the
period between my entrance into public life and the advent of the
Second Empire. Never thank Heaven, have I thought, said, or
written anything favourable to the personal and separate infalli-
bility of the Pope, such as it is sought to impose upon us ; nor
to the theocracy, the dictatorship of the Church, which I did my
best to reprobate in that history of the Monks of the West of
which you are pleased to appreciate the laborious fabric ; nor to
that Absolutism of Home of which the speech that you quote
disputed the existence, even in the Middle Ages, but which to-
day forms the symbol and the programme of the faction dominant
among us.
" Assuredly, if any one would kindly point out to me anything
to correct or to retract in what I may have spoken from the
tribune of the Luxembourg, or from that of the Palais Bourbon,
and if I felt convinced of my wrong, it would be in no way
painful to me to confess him in the right, for where is the public
man to whom twenty-three years of experience and of revolutions
have not taught something ?
" But when I read again with you my words of 1847, I find
nothing, or scarcely anything, to change in them. I feel that,
did the occasion arise, I to-day should again oppose all against
which I then contended, and that I should proclaim, now as
then, the reciprocal incompetence of the Church and of the State
outside the boundary of their proper domain, without desiring
that their mutual independence should lead to their absolute
separation.
"At the same time I willingly admit that, if I have nothing to
cancel I should have a great deal to add. I sinned by omission,
or rather by want of foresight. I said, ' Gallicanism is dead,
because it made itself the servant of the State ; you have now
only to inter it.' I think I then spoke the truth. It was dead,
and completely dead. How, then, has it risen again ? I do not
hesitate to reply that it is in consequence of the lavish encour-
agement given, under the pontificate of Pius IX., to exaggerated
doctrines, outraging the good sense as well as the honour of the
human race, — doctrines of which not even the coming shadow
was perceptible under the Parliamentary Monarchy.
209
" There are wanting, then, to that speech, as to the one I made
in the National Assembly on the Roman expedition, essential
reservations against spiritual despotism, and against absolute
monarchy, which I have always detested in the State, and
which does not inspire me with less repugnance in the Church.
" But, in 1847, what could give rise to a suspicion that the
liberal pontificate of Pius IX., acclaimed by all the Liberals of
the two worlds, would become the pontificate represented and
personified by the Univers and the Civilta ? In the midst of the
unanimous cries then uttered by the clergy in favour of liberty as
in Belgium, of liberty in everything and/or all, how could we foresee,
as possible, the incredible wheelabout of almost all that same
clergy in 1852 — the enthusiasm of most of the Ultramontane
Doctors for the revival of Csesarism ? The harangues of
Monseigneur Parisis, the charges of Monseigneur de Salinis, and
especially the permanent triumph of those lay theologians of
absolutism who began by squandering all our liberties, all our
principles, all our former ideas, before Napoleon III., and after-
wards immolated justice and truth, reason and history, in one
great holocaust to the idol they raised up for themselves at the
Vatican ?
" If that word idol seems to you too strong, please to lay
the blame on what Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris,
wrote to me on the 10th of September, 1853 : — ' The new
Ultramontane school leads us to a double idolatry — the idolatry
of the temporal power and of the spiritual power. When you
formerly, like ourselves, M. le Comte, made loud professions of
Ultramontanism you did not understand things thus. We
defended the independence of the spiritual power against the
pretensions and encroachments of the temporal power, but we
respected the constitution of the State and the constitution of
the Church. We did not do away with all intermediate power,
all hierarchy, all reasonable discussion, all legitimate resistance,
all individuality, all spontaneity. The Pope and the Emperor
were not, one the whole Church, and 'the other the whole State.
Doubtless there are times when the Pope may set himself above
all the rules which are only for ordinary times, and when his
power is as extensive as the necessities of the Church. The old
210
Ultramontanes kept this in mind, but they did not make a rule
of the exception. The new Ultramontanes have pushed every-
thing to extremes, and have abounded in hostile arguments against
all liberties — those of the State as well as those of the Church —
and against the serious religious interests of the present time, and
especially of a future day. One might be content with despising
them, but when one has a presentiment of the evils they are
preparing for us it is difficult to be silent and resigned. You
have therefore done well, M. le Comte, to stigmatise them.'
"Thus, Sir, did the pastor of the largest diocese in Christendom
express himself seventeen years ago, congratulating me upon one
of my first protests against the spirit which, since then, I have
never ceased to combat. For it is not to-day but in 1852
that I began to struggle against the detestable political and
religious aberrations which make up contemporary Ultra-
montanism.
" Here, then, traced by the pen of an Archbishop of Paris, is
the explanation of the mystery that pre-occupies you, and of the
contrast you point out between my Ultramontanism of 1847 and
my Gallicanism of 1870.
"Therefore, without having either the will or the power to
discuss the question now debating in the Council, I hail with
the most grateful admiration, first, the great and generous
Bishop of Orleans, then the eloquent and intrepid priests who
have had the courage to stem the torrent of adulation, impos-
ture, and servility, by which we run the risk of being swallowed
up. Thanks to them, Catholic France will not have remained
too much below Germany, Hungary, and America ; and I pub-
licly pride myself, and more than I can express by words, upon
having them for friends and for brother academicians. I have
but one regret, that of being prevented by illness from descending
into the arena with them, not, certainly, on the ground of
theology, but on that of history and of the social and political
consequences of the system they contend against. Thus should
I deserve my share (and it is the only ambition remaining to me)
in those litanies of abuse daily launched against my illustrious
friends by a too numerous portion of that poor clergy which pre-
pares1 for itself so sad a destiny, and which I formerly loved,
211
defended, and honoured as it had not hitherto been in modern
France.
" I thank you once more, Sir, for having enabled me thus to
say what I think, and I should be a great deal more obliged to
you if I could hope that you would obtain the publication of this
letter in one of the journals with which your opinions must put
you in intercourse.
"Accept, &c.,
" CH. DE MONTALEMBERT."
We need only remind our readers that Archbishop Sibour,
whose curious and really admirable letter Count Montalembert
quotes, was appointed to the See of Paris by General Changarnier,
after the death of Monseigneur Affre, in June, 1848, and was
murdered, like his predecessor.
DR. DOLLINGER AND PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.
The Dusseldorf Gazette publishes a letter addressed by Dr.
Dollinger to the Archbishop of Munich, in explanation of his
refusal to submit to the decree of the Council concerning the
Infallibility of the Pope. The following are important points
of the letter : —
"Your excellency has asked me in two letters to explain
my position with respect to the Roman Decrees of July 18,
1870, which have been published by you.
"It has transpired in the circle of your cathedral chapter
that it is your intention to proceed against me with such penal
measures as are used only against priests who have been guilty
of gross moral crimes, and even but seldom against these, if I
do not, within a certain period, submit myself to the two new
articles of faith, as to the omnipotence and Infallibility of the Pope.
"I learn at the same time that a council meeting of German
bishops is to take place shortly at Fulda.
" In the year 1848, when a meeting of all the German
bishops was held at Wurzburg, the honour of an invitation
212
was extended to myself, and I took part in the proceedings.
Your excellency might perhaps arrange that I should be
allowed in the meeting which is ahout to take place, not this
time to take part in the proceedings, but to have an audience
for a few hours.
"For I am prepared to prove before this meeting the follow-
ing theses, which are of decisive importance for the present
situation of the German Church, as well as for my personal
position.
" First, the new Articles of Faith are based upon the texts
in the Holy Scriptures, St. Matt. xvi. 18,* and St. John xxi. 17, f
and, as far as infallibilty is concerned, upon the text, St.
Luke xxii. 32,J with which the same, Biblically considered,
must stand or fall. But we are bound by a solemn oath,
which I myself have twice sworn, to ' accept and to explain
the Holy Scriptures, not otherwise than according to the
unanimous consent of the Fathers.' The Fathers of the
Church have all, without exception, explained the texts in
question as bearing a totally different meaning from the new
decrees, and in the text St. Luke xxii. 32, especially, have
found anything but an infallibility given to the Pope. There-
fore, were I to accept this explanation with the decrees, with-
out which every Biblical basis is wanting to them, I should
commit a perjury. And, as I have said, I am prepared to
prove this to the bishops in council.
" Secondly, in several episcopal pastorals and notices which
have lately appeared, the assertion has been made, or the
historical proof sought, that the new doctrine now proceeding
from Rome as to the universal power of the Pope over every
single Christian, and as to the Papal infallibility in decisions
in the Church on matters of faith from the beginning, through
* Matt. xvi. 18. — " And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I -noil build my Church ; and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it."
t St. John xxi. 17.—" He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the
third time, Lovest thou me ? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all tilings ; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, Feed my
sheep."
I St. Luke xxii. 32. — "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,"
213
all time and for ever, has been generally, or, at least, nearly
generally, believed and taught. I am prepared to shew that
this assertion is based upon an entire misconception of the
traditions of the Church for the first thousand years, and upon
an entire distortion of her history. It is in direct contradiction
to the plainest facts and testimonies.
" Thirdly, I am ready to prove that the bishops of the
Latin countries, Spain, Italy, South America, and France,
who formed the immense majority at Rome, were, with their
clergy, already led astray by the class-books from which
they took their ideas during their seminary education, the
proofs given in these books being for the most part false,
invented, or distorted. I shall prove this, first, with the two
principal and favourite works of modern theological schools
and seminaries, 'The Moral Philosophy of S. Alphonsus
Liguori' (especially as regards the treatise contained therein
concerning the Pope), and ' The Theology of the Jesuit Peroni ' ;
further, with the writings of the Archbishop Cardoni, and of
Bishop Ghilardi, which were distributed in Rome during the
Council ; and finally, with ' The Theology of the Vienesse
Theologian Schwetz.'
" Fourthly, I appeal to the fact, which I am prepared to prove
in public, that two General Councils and several Popes have
already decided in the fifteenth century, by solemn decrees,
issued by the Councils, and repeatedly confirmed by the Popes,
the question as to the extent of the Pope's power, and as to his
infallibility, and that the decrees of the 18th of July, 1870,
are in the most glaring contradiction to these resolutions, and,
therefore, cannot possibly be considered as binding.
"Fifthly, I believe that I shall be able to demonstrate that the
new decrees are simply incompatible with the constitutions
of the States of Europe, and especially with that of Bavaria;
and that I, who am bound by oath to this constitution, which
I have lately sworn on my admission to the Chamber of
the Councillors of State, find it impossible to accept the new
decrees, and as their necessary consequence, the Bulls ' Unam
Sanctam ' and ' Cum ex Apostolatus officio,' tbe Syllabus of
Pius IX., with so many other Papal declarations and laws,
which are now to be accepted as infallible decisions although
214
they are in irreconcileable antagonism to the laws of the
country. I appeal on this subject to the opinion given by the
Legal Faculty in Munich, and I am ready to abide by the
arbitration of any German Legal Faculty which your excel-
lency may be pleased to name.
" I only ask two conditions for the conference which I
have proposed, or rather prayed for ; first, that my assertions,
together with any counter- assertions, shall be recorded, with
a view to their subsequent publication ; secondly, that a man
of scientific culture, to be chosen by me, shall be allowed to be
present at the conference.
"Should this be unattainable before the German bishops in
Fulda, I venture most respectfully to make another request :
that it may please your excellency to form, out of the members
of your cathedral chapter, a committee, before which I may
plead my cause in the way above mentioned. Several of
these venerable gentlemen are Doctors, and were formerly
Professors of Theology, and were once my scholars. I may
assume that it would be more agreeable to them to treat
with me in quiet argument, to confute me, if possible, with
reasons and facts, than to draw up, upon the seat of judgment,
criminal sentences against me, and to submit the same to your
excellency, to be fulminated, as the saying is. If your excellency
will consent to preside at this conference, and will condescend
to correct any errors into which I may have fallen in the citation
and explanation of testimonies and facts, I shall count it as
a great honour, and the cause of truth must be profited thereby.
And when you place before me the prospect of the exercise
of your pastoral power, I may still hope that you will prefer to
employ, in the first place, towards me, the finest, most noble,
most benevolent, and most Christlike attribute of this power —
namely, the teacher's office. Should I be convinced by testi-
monies and facts, I engage myself to revoke publicly all that
I have written in this matter, and so confute myself. In any
case the results must be advantageous to the Church and the
peace of souls. For it is not I alone who am concerned ; but
thousands of the clergy, hundreds of thousands of the laity, who
think as I do, and find it impossible to accept the new articles
of faith.
215
" Up to this day not a single one, even of those who have
signed a declaration of submission, has said to me that he is
really convinced of the truth of these theses. All my friends
and acquaintances confirm me in this experience ; ' not a
single person believes in it/ is what I hear day by day from
all lips. A conference such as I have proposed, and the publication
of the proceedings, will in any case afford that deeper insight
which so many long for.
" Your excellency may refer me to the pastoral letter which
has recently appeared under the sanction of your name,
as a source whence I might derive sufficient instruction and
correction in respect to the opinions I hold : but I must
avow that it has produced a totally contrary effect upon me, and
I engage to show that this pastoral letter contains a long series
of misunderstood, distorted, mutilated, or invented testimonies,
which, together with the suppression of importants facts and
opposite testimonies, present a picture totally dissimilar to the real
tradition. Assuredly the person to whom your excellency
confided this composition has not invented the falsifications,
but has borrowed them in good faith from others (from Cardoni
and others) ; but if he be willing to defend his elaboration at
the proposed conference, he would find me ready, within a
very few hours, either to prove my allegations or, if I should
not succeed therein, publicly to apologise and to make an
honourable amend. In consideration, however, of the import-
ance of this matter, I conceive it to be my duty to make this
offer, subject to one condition only, namely, that his Majesty's
government be requested to appoint an official, well versed in
the knowledge of historical and ecclesiastical law, to be present
at the conference as a witness. As this matter is also one of
the highest interest for all governments I presume it may be
taken for granted that such a request will not be refused on
the part of the government.
"In the past history of the Church, facts are not wanting
to prove that my proposal is in perfect harmony both with the
principles and practice of the Church. Thus, in the year 411,
a conference, consisting of 286 Catholic and 279 Don atist bishops,
was held under the presidency of the Imperial official Marcel-
216
linns : at this conference the disputed doctrine of the Church was
discussed, and the President decided in favour of the Catholic
bishops. In the year 1433 Bohemian Calixtines appeared at
the council at Basle. A decree of the Synod of Constance,
issued eighteen years before, concerning the communion in
one form, was then submitted to a new discussion and examina-
tion, from which those compacts resulted, which were recog-
nised by the Holy See, in virtue whereof an important and
far-penetrating concession, and derogating from the older
resolution, was made to the Bohemians. A still greater
parallel to the discussion I propose is to be found in the
conference, so celebrated in French history, between Du Perron,
the Bishop of Evreux, and the Protestant statesman and scholar,
M. Du Plessis-Mornay, which took place at Fontainebleau in
the year 1600, at the instigation of King Henry IV. The ques-
tion under consideration was the charge preferred against Mornay,
that in his book on the Eucharistics he had falsified a great many
passages or quoted them incorrectly. The King himself pre-
sided ; and the most notable men of both churches were present
as witnesses. This conference was interrupted by Mornay's
illness after the lapse of a few days, and after a number of
passages quoted by him had been examined ; nevertheless, it
produced an effect on the then greatly agitated state of the
public mind extremely favourable to the Catholic cause.
" Most venerable Archbishop, I leave entirely to your own
judgment which form you will give to a conference so much
desired by myself, and certainly so welcome to multitudes of
German Catholics, and what persons you will invite to attend
or oppose to me. In your diocese there is certainly no want of
professional theologians who will be glad to accept your invitation.
The practice of the Church proves that a question of faith is
just as much an affair o'f the laity as of the clergy, and that
the former may take part in the scientific examination and
establishment of the tradition — as both Popes and theologians
have acknowledged. And in this case, which is a matter for
historical proof, I am gladly ready to submit to the verdict of the
most eminent historians of the German nation and of the Catholic
faith. Such men as Ficker, Reumont, Hofler, Arneth, Kamps-
217
chulte, Cornelius, Lerenz, Wegele, Asehbach, may judge whether
my proofs be critically and historically right or not.
" Your excellency was pleased formerly to honour my book on
the First Ages of the Church Apostolical with your approval,
and it was generally considered among German Catholics to be a
true picture of the time of foundation : even the Jesuitic- Ultra-
montane party let it pass without censure. But if the new
decrees contain the truth, then I have laid myself open to the
reproach of having entirely misrepresented the history of the
Apostles. That entire section of my book which concerns the
constitution of the earlier Church, my description of the relation
in which Paul and the other Apostles stood to Peter — all is
fundamentally wrong, and I ought to condemn my own book,
and confess that I have neither understood Luke's Acts of the
Apostles nor their own Epistles.
" The new Vatican doctrine confers upon the Pope the whole
plenitude of power (totam plenitudinem potestatis) over the entire
Church, as well as over every individual layman, priest and
bishop ; and this power pretends to be at once the genuine
episcopalian, and also the specific Papal authority, which is to
comprise all things whatsoever, in relation to faith, morals, duties
of life and discipline, and is to be entitled to lay hold upon the
monarch as well as upon the day labourer, in order to inflict upon
him punishment, commandment, or prohibition. The wording is
so carefully put that no other position and authority is left to the
bishops than such as pertain to Papal commissioners and pleni-
potentiaries. Every person acquainted with history, and with
the Fathers, must know that, by this means, the orthodox
episcopacy is destroyed in its very essence, and that an apostolic
institution which, in the opinion of the Fathers of the Church, is
entitled to the highest consideration and authority, is thus reduced
to an unsubstantial shadow. For no one will admit it to be possible
that there shall be two bishops in the same diocese — the one being
at the same time the Pope, and the other merely a bishop — because
a Papal vicar or a diocesan commissioner is not exactly a bishop
nor a successor of the apostles. In virtue of the powers conferred
upon him by Rome, he may be a very mighty man as long as
his employer chooses to maintain him in office, precisely as a
218
Jesuit or a Mendicant whom the Pope has endowed with an
abundance of privileges might be. I am well aware that this
prospect of an extension of their power has been held out to the
bishops at Rome, and that it has often been said to them — ' The
more irresistible the Pope the stronger you will be, for the
plenitude of my power will cause rich rays to alight upon you.'
The bishops of the minority have full well seen through the
deceptive part of these promises ; by the official ' analytical-
synopsis ' it is shown that they have- fully recognised that, when
the universal episcopacy of the Pope is established, they
may still continue to be dignitaries of the Church, but they will
cease to be true bishops. Right reverend sir, you yourself took
part in the deputation, which on the 15th July, made the
most urgent counter-representations to the Pope — representations
which M. de Ketteler essayed to render still more emphatic by
his prostration at the feet of the Pontiff. These representations,
it is well known, were made in vain. The only consolation
offered to the prelates, mourning over the loss of their orthodox
dignity, was limited to the wording of the decree, which provided
that the power of the bishop is an ' ordinary' one (that is to say,
in the language of the Roman canonists, a ' potestas ordinaria
subdelegata'), and that the Pope considered it his duty to
support the same was proved by a mutilated quotation from
Gregorius the Great : but if this passage had been quoted com-
pletely, together with others, it would have proved to the world
that this Pope of the seventeenth century repelled from him with
the profoundest aversion as a blasphemous usurpation the idea of
such a universal episcopacy as is now intended to be established.
" And here I beg your excellency to consider that the doctrine
which we are now to adopt forms by its own nature, and by the
declaration of the Pope himself, by the confession of all infalli-
bilists, a fundamental article of faith — that it is a question of the
regula fidei, of the rule which must decide what is to be believed
and what is not. In future every Catholic Christian can only
answer the query why he believes this or that as follows : — ' I
believe, or deny it, because the infallible Pope has commanded
me to believe or to deny it.' This first principle of faith, as the
Holy Scriptures necessarily should most clearly show, can never
219
have been doubtful in the Church — it must at every date and
among every people have governed the whole Church like a
brightly shining star — must have been placed in the front of all
instruction ; and we all wait for an explanation of why it is
that only after 1830 years the Church has started the idea
of making an article of faith of a doctrine which the • Pope
calls, in a letter addressed to your excellency on the 28th of
October, ' ijmim fundamentale principimn Caiholicce fidei ac
doctrines.' How can it have been possible that the Popes
should, during centuries past have exempted whole countries,
whole schools of theology, from belief in this ' fundamental
article of faith?' And — may I add — how is it that your
excellency yourself strove so long and so persistently against
the enunciation of this dogma ? Because it was not opportune,
you say. But can it ever have been ' inopportune ' to give to
believers the key of the whole temple of faith, to announce to
them the fundamental article on which all the rest depend? We
stand all of us giddy before a chasm which opened before us on
the 18th of July last.
"He who wishes to measure the immense range of these
resolutions may be urgently recommended to compare thoroughly
the third chapter of the decrees in Council with the fourth, and
to realise for himself what a system of universal government and
spiritual dictation stands here before us. It is the plenary
power over the whole Church as over each separate member, such
as the Popes have claimed for themselves since Gregory VII.,
such as is pronounced in the numerous bulls since the bull
'TJnam sanctam,' which is henceforth to be believed and acknow-
ledged in his life by every Catholic. This power is boundless,
incalculable ; it can, as Innocent III. said, strike at sin every-
where ; can punish every man, allows of no appeal, is sovereign
and arbitrary, for, according to Bonifacius VIII., the Pope
' carries all rights in the shrine of his bosom.' As he has now
become infallible, he can in one moment, with the one little word
'orbi' (that is, that he addresses himself to the whole Church),
make every thesis, every doctrine, every demand, an unerring
and irrefragable article of faith. Against him there can be
maintained no right, no personal or corporate freedom — or, as
220
the canonists say, the tribunal of God and that of the Pope are
one and the same. This system bears its Romish origin on its
forehead, and will never be able to penetrate in Germanic
countries. As a Christian, as a theologian, as a historian, as a
citizen, I cannot accept this doctrine. Not as a Christian, for it
is irreconcileable with the spirit of the Gospel, and with the
plain words of Christ and of the Apostles ; it purposes just that
establishment of the kingdom of this world which Christ rejected;
it claims that rule over all communions which Peter forbids to all
and to himself. Not as a theologian — for the whole true tradition
of the Church is in irreconcileable opposition to it. Not as a
historian can I accept it, for as such I know that the persistent
endeavour to realise this theory of a kingdom of the world has
cost Europe rivers of blood, has confounded and degraded whole
countries, has shaken the beautiful organic architecture of the
elder Church, and has begotten, fed, and sustained the worst
abuses in the Church.
" Finally as a citizen, I must put this dogma away from me,
because by its claims on the submission of states and monarchs,
and of the whole political order under the Papal power, and by
the exceptional position which it claims for the clergy, it lays the
foundation of endless ruinous dispute between State and Church,
between clergy and laity. For I cannot conceal from myself that
this doctrine, the results of which were the ruin of the old
German Kingdom, would, if governing the Catholic part of the
German nation, at once lay the seed of incurable decay in the
new kingdom which has just been built up. —
" Accept, &c.,
(Signed) "I VON DOLLINGER."
"Munich, March 28, 1871."
Dr. Dollinger's most convincing letter could not be answered :
and therefore, soon after writing it, he was excommunicated.
Since his excommunication, he has not been left without sympathy
on the part of his co-religionists. The King has even written him
to express his condolence with him and admiration of his conduct
221
t
and character. Dr. Dollinger's election as Rector of the University
of Munich is the latest evidence that Rome's thunders cease to
frighten the German people, even when they cleave to their old
religious convictions.
"THE TABLET' ON MONTALEMBERT'S LETTER
OF FEB. 28ra, 1870.
"The Tablet" (Vatican Supplement}, Mar. 26, 1870.
The real founder of "Liberal Catholicism," considered as a
project for reconciling the Church with what are called " modern
ideas," was perhaps De Lamennais, though nothing was further
from his original intention. He had all the gifts necessary to
the master of a school, and among his disciples were such men
as Lacordaire, Gerbet, De Salmis, and Montalembert, It is not
without interest at this moment to enquire what were the princi-
ples and professions with which this school, whose chief was to
end so dismally, commenced its career. Their first act was an
uncompromising profession of Ultramontane doctrines. In the
Univers of the 19th, we find a copy of the Declaration in which
the editors of the Avenir proclaimed to the .Church and the
world their principles and intentions. "At this day, more than
at any other period," they said, " Catholic writers must redouble
their vigilance and precautions in order to assure themselves that
they are not departing in any point from true doctrine. The tra-
ditions and the history of the Church indicate to them the most
certain means of securing this object : they have only to address
themselves directly to the Holy See, the infallible guardian of the
truth. When, therefore, we formed the resolution of combating,
in a moment of difficulty, in the cause of Catholic faith and
liberty, our first glance was turned towards that Chair from
which light and wisdom descend upon the whole Christian
world." After some further observations, they proceed to make
a solemn profession of faith, which bears the signatures of the
thirteen men connected with the Avcnir, including Lacordaire and
Montalembert. " We profess the most complete submission to
222
the authority of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. "We neither have
nor wish to have any other faith than his faith, any other doc-
trine than his doctrine. We approve all that he approves, we
condemn all that he condemns, without a shadow of restriction,
and each one of us submits to the judgment of the Holy See all
his writings, past or future, of whatever nature they may be. In
accordance with these principles, deeply engraven on our souls,
we reject Gallicanism with all our strength ; first, because the
declaration of 1682, which is its formal expression, has been re-
versed, annulled, and reproved many times by the Holy See,
without distinction of the articles ; and secondly, because the doc-
trine which it implies establishes at once anarchy in the spiritual
order, and servitude in the political.
Even this did not satisfy the eminent men who were afterwards
to exercise, in various positions, so powerful an influence upon
their generation. They proceeded, therefore, to enumerate vari-
ous propositions in order to pronounce condemnation upon them.
The first which they named was this : "A General Council is
superior to the Pope." The second, — that " the monarchical
form in the Church was not instituted immediately by Christ,"
they reprove by quoting the very words of the Theological
Faculty of Paris, in which this proposition, asserted by Mark
Antony de Dominis, was condemned as " heretical, schismatical,
subversive of hierarchical order, and destructive to the peace of the
Church." The third, that " the judgment of the Roman Pontiff in
matters of faith is only irreformable after the assent of the Church
has been joined to it," Montalembert and his distinguished col-
leagues rejected for these reasons : (1) " because the Popes have
never permitted that any doubt should attach for a moment to their
decisions addressed to the whole Church ; (2) because this proposi-
tion is contrary to the profession of faith sanctioned by the Eighth
General Council, which defined that they are separated from, the
communion of the Catholic Church who do not IN ALL THINGS
profess the same belief as the Apostolic See' ; and (3) because of
certain conclusions inevitably resulting from this false proposi-
tion ; — such as, either that the Pope might fall into error, and so
lead the whole Church astray, contrary to the promise of Jesus
Christ; or that the Episcopate could lead the Pope back to truth,
223
which implies that the centre of unity may exist outside the
Roman Church ; " — suppositions, they add, " which we reject as
directly contrary to the Catholic faith."
Without noticing all the details of this remarkable Declaration,
it will suffice to quote its concluding sentences. " If in the
principles which we profess there be anything contrary to the
faith or to ' Catholic doctrine,' we supplicate the Vicar of Jesus
Christ to deign to admonish us, renewing to Him the promise of
our perfect docility. God forbid that we should ever substitute
our personal opinions for the tradition of the Church, of which
He is the Sovereign interpreter. The very phenomena by which
we are surrounded, and the vast chaos of conflicting opinions, are
only too plain a warning to us how much each individual should
distrust his own weak and limited intelligence. For us, sub-
mission is not only our first duty as Catholics, but is, so to speak,
our very being as writers. One word of revolt from our mouths
would be the suicide of all that we can utter. For it is our first
principle, the vital principle of our writings, the very life of our
understanding, that truth is not a treasure belonging to ourselves ;
and from our doctrine on human reason to our faith in the Chair
of eternal truth, we are, as it were, on every side enveloped in
the atmosphere of obedience. We will finish, by the grace of
God, as we have begun. After having passed through days full
of trial and combat, when our last sigh shall have announced the
close of our toils, we cherish the hope that men will be able,
without being contradicted by a single incident of our lives, to
engrave on our tombs these words of Fenelon : 0 HOLY CHURCH
OF JEROME, IF EVER I FORGET THEE, MAY I FORGET MYSELF ! "
Paris, 2nd February, 1831.
F. DE LAMENNAIS, Priest.
P. GERBET, Priest.
ROHRBACHER, Priest.
H. LACORDAIRE, Priest.
C. DE COUX.
A. BARTELS.
D'AULB-DUMESNIL.
VlCOMTE CH. DE MONTALEM-
BERT.
J. D'ORTIGUE.
A. DE SALINIS.
DAGUERRE. [Editor.
HAREL DU TANCREL, Chief
WAILLE, Managing Editor.
224
THE ENCYCLICAL AND SYLLABUS OF 1864.
IT would be an. error to suppose that the decrees of the Council
of 1869-70 stood by themselves in the history of the Papacy, as
a sudden manifestation of Jesuit supremacy. On the contrary,
iu the Encyclical, which contains the Syllabus of propositions
condemned by the Papacy, the Pope declares, that the condem-
nation of these propositions forms a summary of the policy
of his Pontificate ; and this is true, as respects the conduct he
has pursued since his flight to Gaeta from republican Rome in
1848, and his final subordination to Jesuit direction, which ap-
pears to have been consummated at that period. The convening
of the Council of 1869-70, its decrees, and the proclamation of
the personal infallibility of the Pope, form the climax of this
policy, superinduced probably by the discovery, that the condemna-
tions of the Syllabus are so extravagant, that their enforcement
upon the Roman Catholic Church could not be accomplished,
without the leverage, -which a further development of an obedient
superstition was expected to afford.
Perhaps our readers may wish to know at a glance what the
Syllabus is. The Syllabus consists of some eighty propositions on
Religion, Politics, and Morality ; every one of which is now to be
held by devout Roman Catholics, as condemned by an infallible
authority, which is as binding on their consciences, as are the
doctrines of the Bible on the consciences of others. The Syllabus
treats the Papal authority as supreme. It anathematizes all the
decrees of Monarchs, Parliaments, and States, which are contrary
to the Papal policy therein enunciated ; and declares them to be
utterly void of rightful authority. Travelling beyond this, into
the sphere of opinion, it anathematizes without scruple all phases
of thought not squared with its own dogmas, which it treats as
antecedent.
The Dublin Review — the eminent Roman Catholic organ
which gives the Latin original and the English translation of the
Encyclical and Syllabus, says of this remarkable State Paper
(Dublin Review, No. VIII., p. 443) :— " We have no hesitation in
225
maintaining, consistently with our article on the ' Mirari Vos,' that
its (i.e., the Encyclical's) doctrinal declarations possess absolute
infallibility, in virtue of the promises made by Christ to St. Peter's
Chair. Indeed, to hold that the Church's infallibility is confined
to her definitions of faith seems to us among the most fatal errors
of the day ; nor do we see where its legitimate results can stop,
short of that extreme form of Catholic unbelief which animated
the late Home and Foreign Review."
This, then, is no musty document of past times. It is the
latest expression of the Councils of the Church of Home, not made
in haste or in heat, but calmly, after long thought, publicly, in
the face of Europe.
Every Romish priest and prelate is bound by this decree, and
swears to obey it, to take it as his creed, and the rule of his
actions.
That no country may be deceived, that no sovereign be left
ignorant, here, given in full detail, is the declared judgment of
him who is the sovereign ruler of millions of minds.
1st. To his rule and laws all the nations of the world must
bow.
2nd. All sovereigns hold their thrones, all people pay their
allegiance, on condition that they believe the Creed of Rome, and
practise its worship.
3rd. There is no religion but that of Rome, and no other faith
is to be held or allowed. Liberty of conscience is prohibited.
Toleration of other religions is a crime against society.
4th. All sovereigns, who are Protestants, are heretics ; and
heresy is a crime for which they ought to be deposed.
5th. All free thought and free speech on religion are criminal.
Liberty of the press and of worship are to be put down.
This is the Creed, and, where it has the power, the practice,
of Rome.
It is impossible to conceive a document more deeply fraught
with the essence of despotism.
226
REMARKABLE LETTER FROM PERE LA CHAISE,
ETC.
The following is a letter from Father La Chaise, confessor to
Louis XIV., to Father Peters, confessor to James II. of England,
in 1688. It is from the seventh volume 4to. of the collection of
manuscript papers selected from the library of Edward Haiiey,
Earl of Oxford :— *
"Father La Chaise's Project for the Extirpation of Heretics, in
a Letter from him to Father Peters, 1688.
" ' WORTHY FRIEND, — I received yours on the 20th of June
last, and am glad to hear of your good success, and that our
party gains ground so fast in England ; but, concerning the
question you have put to me, " What is the best course to he
taken to root out all heretics?" — I answer, there are divers
ways to do that, but we must consider which, is the best to
make use of in England. I am sure you are not ignorant of how
many thousand heretics we have converted in France, by the
power of our dragoons, in the space of one year ; having by the
doctrine of those booted apostles, turned more in one month than
Christ and His apostles could in ten years. This is a most
excellent method, and far excels those of the great preachers and
teachers that have lived since Christ's time. But I have spoken
with divers fathers of our Society, who think that your king is
not strong enough to accomplish his design by such kind of force;
so that we cannot expect to have our work done in that manner,
for the heretics are too strong in the three kingdoms ; and there-
fore we must seek to convert them by fair means, before we fall
upon them with fire, sword, halters, gaols, and other such-like
* See " Popery, as opposed to the Knowledge, the Morals, the Wealth, and
the Liberty of Mankind," by Al. Walker, Esq. 2nd Edition. London :
W. Strange, 1851 ; pp. 364—370.
227
punishments ; and therefore I can give you no better advice than
to begin with soft, easy means. Wheedle them by promises of
profit and places of honour, till you have made them dip them-
selves in treasonable actions against the laws established, and
then they are bound to serve for fear. When they have done
this, turn them out, and serve others so, by putting them in their
places ; and by this means gain as many as you can. And for the
heretics that are in places of profit and honour, turn them out,
or suspend them on pretence of misbehaviour ; by which their
places are forfeited, and they are subject to what judgment you
please to give upon them. Then you must form a camp, that
must consist of none but Catholics ; this will dishearten the heretics
and cause them to conclude that all means of relief and recovery
is gone. And lastly, take the short and the best way, which is, to
surprise the heretics on a sudden ; and to encourage the zealous
Catliolics, let them sacrifice them all, and wash their hands in
their blood, which will be an acceptable offering to God. This
was the method I took in France, which hath well, you see,
succeeded ; but it cost me many threats and promises before I
could bring it thus far ; our king being a long time very unwilling.
But at last I got him on the hip ; for he had lain with his
daughter-in-law, for which. I would by no means give him
absolution till he had given me an instrument, under his own
hand and seal, to sacrifice all the heretics in one day. Now, as
soon as I had my desired commission, I appointed the day when
this should be done ; and, in the meantime, made ready some
thousands of letters, to be sent into all parts of France in one
post-night. I was never better pleased than at that time, but
the king was affected with some compassion for the Huguenots,
because they had been a means to bring him to his crown and
throne ; and the longer he was under it, the more sorrowful he
was, often complaining, and desiring me to give him his com-
mission again ; but that I would by no persuasion do ; advising
him to repent of that heinous sin, and also telling him, that the
trouble and horror of his spirit did not proceed from anything of
evil in those things that were to be done, but from that wicked-
ness that he had done ; and that he must resolve to undergo the
severe burden of a troubled mind for one of them or the other ;
228
and that if he would remain satisfied as it was, his sin being
forgiven, there would, in a few days, be a perfect atonement
made for it, and he perfectly reconciled to God again. But
all this would not pacify him ; for the longer it continued the
more restless he became ; and I therefore ordered him to retire
to his closet, and spend his time constantly in prayer, without
permitting any one to interrupt him ; — this was early in the
morning, and on the evening following I was to send away
all my letters. I indeed, made the more haste, for fear he
should disclose it to any body, although I had given him a
strict charge to keep it to himself; and the very things that I
most feared, to my great sorrow, came to pass ; for just in the
nick of time, the devil, who hath at all times his instruments at
work, sent the Prince of Conde to the court, who asked for the
king. He was told that he was in his closet, and would speak
with no man. He impudently answered, "that he must and
would speak with him," and so went directly to his closet ; he
being a great peer, no man durst hinder him. And being come
to the king, he soon perceived by his countenance that he was
under some great trouble of mind, for he looked as if he had
been going into the other world immediately. " Sir," said he,
" what is the matter with you ?" The king at the first refused
to tell him, but he pressing harder upon him, the king at last,
with a sorrowful complaint, burst out, and said — " I have given
Father La Chaise a commission, under my hand, to murder all
the Huguenots in one day ; and this evening will the letters be
despatched to all parts, by the post, for the performing it : so that
there is but small time left for my Huguenot subjects to live,
who have never done me any harm." Whereupon this cursed
rogue answered, " Let him give you your commission again."
The king said, " How shall I get it out of his hand ? For if I
send to him for it, he will refuse to send it." And this devil
answered, "If your majesty will give me the order, I will quickly
make him return it."
" 'The king was soon persuaded, being willing to give ease to
his troubled spirit, and said, " Well, go then, and break his neck,
if he will not give it you." Whereupon this son of the devil
went to the post-house, and asked if I had not a great number
229
of letters there ? And they said, " Yes, more than I had sent
in a whole year before." " Then," said the prince, " by order
from the king, you must deliver them all to me;" which they
durst not disobey, for they knew well enough who he was. And
no sooner was he got into the post-house, and had asked these
questions, than I came also in after him, to give order to the
post-master to give notice to all those under him, in the several
parts of the kingdom, that they should take care to deliver my
letters with all speed imaginable. But I had no sooner entered
the house than he gave his servants order to secure the door, and
said confidently to me, " You must, by order from the king, give
me the commission which you have forced from him." I told
him I had it not about me, but would go and fetch it ; thinking
to get from him, and so go out of town, and send the contents of
those letters another time ; but he said, " You must give it up ; and
if you have it not about you, send somebody to fetch it, or else
never expect to go alive out of my hands ; for I have an order
from the king either to bring it or break your neck, and am
resolved either to carry that back to him in my hand, or else
your heart's blood on the point of my sword." I would have
made my escape, but he set his sword to my breast, and said,
" You must give it me, or die ; therefore deliver it, or else this
goes through your body."
" 'So, when I saw nothing else would do, I put my hand in my
pocket and gave it him ; which he carried immediately to the
king, and gave him that and all my letters, which they burned.
And, all being done, the king said, now his heart was at ease.
Now, how he should be eased by the devil, or so well satisfied
with a false joy, I cannot tell ; but this I know, that it was a
very wicked and ungodly action, as well in his majesty as in the
Prince of Conde, and did not a little increase the burden and
danger of his majesty's sins. I soon gave an account of this
affair to several fathers of our Society, who promised to do their
best to prevent the aforesaid prince's doing such another act,
which was accordingly done ; for, within six days after the
damned action, he was poisoned, and well he deserved it. The
king also did suffer too, but in another fashion, for disclosing the
design unto the prince, and hearkening unto his counsel. And
230
many a time since, when I have had him at confession, I have
shook hell about his ears, and made him sigh, fear, and tremble,
before I would give him absolution ; nay, more than that, I have
made him beg for it on his knees, before I would consent to
absolve him. By this I saw that he had still an inclination to
me, and was willing to be under my government ; so I set the
baseness of the action before him, by telling him the whole story,
and how wicked it was, and that it could not be forgiven, till he
had done some good action to balance that, and expiate the
crime. Whereupon, he at last asked me, what he must do ? I
told him that he must root out all heretics from his kingdom. So,
when he saw there was no rest for him, without doing it, he did
again give them all into my power and that of our clergy, under
this condition, that we would not murder them, as he had before
given orders, but that we should by fair means, or force, convert
them to the Catholic religion. Now, when we had got the
commission, we at once put it in force ; and what the issue
hath been, you very well know. But in England the work
cannot be done after this manner, as you may perceive by what
I have said to you ; so that I cannot give you better counsel,
than to take that course in hand wherein we were so unhappily
prevented ; and I doubt not, but it may have better success with
you than with us.
'"I would write to you of many other things, but I fear I
have already detained you too long, wherefore I will write no
more at present, but that I am
" ' Your friend and servant,
" ' LA CHAISE.
'"Paris, July 8th, 1688.'"
Dr. Burnet* gives a curious account of meeting Penn at the
Court of the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III., to which
Penn came on a private mission from James II. Burnet evidently
supected that Penn was connected with the Jesuits, at that time
so powerful at the Court of England. He says :
* Bishop Bui-net's "History of His Own Time," vol. i., pp. 6»3,fi94. 1724.
231
" Complaints come daily over from England of all the things
that the priests were everywhere throwing out. Penn, the
Quaker, came over to Holland. He was a talking, vain man,
who had been long in the King's favour, he being the Vice-
Admiral's son. He had such an opinion of his own faculty of
persuading, that he thought none could stand before it. Though
he was singular in that opinion — for he had a tedious, luscious
way, that was not apt to overcome a man's reason, though it
might tire his patience — he undertook to persuade the Prince to
come into the King's measures, and had two or three long
audiences of him upon the subject. And he and I spent some
hours together on it. The Prince readily consented to a toleration
of Popery as well as of Dissenters, provided it were proposed and
passed in Parliament ; and he promised his assistance, if there
was need of it, to get it to pass. But for the Tests, he would
enter into no treaty about them. He said it was a plain be-
traying the security of the Protestant religion, to give them up.
Nothing was left unsaid that might move him to agree to tbis in
the way of interest. The King would enter into an entire
confidence with him, and would put his best friends in the
chief trusts. Penn undertook for this so positively, that he
seemed to believe it himself, for he was a great proficient in the
art of dissimulation. Many suspected that he was a concealed
Papist. It is certain, he was much with Father Peter, and was
particularly trusted by the Earl of Sunderland. So, though he
did not pretend any commission for what he promised, yet we
looked on him as a man employed. To all this the Prince
answered, that no man was more for toleration in principle, than
he was : he thought the conscience was only subject to God ;
and as far as general toleration, even of Papists, would content
the King, he would concur in it heartily. But he looked on the
Tests, as such a real security, and indeed the only one, when the
King was of another religion, that he would join in no counsels
with those, that intended to repeal those laws, that enacted them.
Penn said, the King would have all or nothing : but that, if this
was once done, the King would secure the toleration by a solemn
and unalterable law. To this the late repeal of the Edict of
Nantes, that was declared perpetual and irrevocable, furnished
232
an answer, that admitted of no reply. So Penn's negotiation witli
the Prince had no effect.
" lie pressed me to go over to England, since I was in
principle for toleration ; and he assured me the King would
prefer me highly. I told him, since the tests must go with this
toleration, I could never be for it. Among other discourses he
told me one thing, that was not accomplished in the way, he had
a mind I should believe it would be, but had a more surprising
accomplishment. He told me a long series of predictions, which,
as he said, he had from a man that pretended a commerce with
Angels, who had foretold many things that were passed very
punctually. But he added, that in the year 1688 there would
such a change happen in the face of affairs, as would amaze all
the world. And after the Eevolution, which happened that year,
I asked him before much company if that was the event that
was predicted. He was uneasy at the question, but did not
deny what he had told me, which he understood of the full
settlement of the nation upon a toleration, by which he believed
all men's minds would be perfectly quieted and united."
233
[TRANSLATION.]
VIII. DECEMBER, MDCCCLXIV.
THE ENCYCLICAL LETTEK
OP
OTJR MOST HOLY FATHER THE POPE, PIUS IX.
To our Venerable Brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops having favour and communion of the Holy See.
PIUS PP. IX.
VENERABLE BRETHREN,
HEALTH AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION.
With how great care and pastoral vigilance the Roman Pontiffs,
our predecessors, fulfilling the duty and office committed to them
by the Lord Christ Himself in the person of Most Blessed Peter,
Prince of the Apostles, of feeding the lambs and the sheep, have
never ceased sedulously to nourish the Lord's own flock with
words of faith and with salutary doctrine, and to guard it from
poisoned pastures, — is thoroughly known to all, and especially to
You, Venerable Brethren. And truly the same, Our Predeces-
sors, asserters as they were and vindicators of the august Catholic
religion, of truth, and of justice, being specially anxious for the
salvation of souls, had nothing even more at heart than by their
most wise Letters and Constitutions to unveil and condemn all
those heresies and errors which, being adverse to our Divine
Faith, to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, to purity of morals,
and to the eternal salvation of men, have frequently excited
violent tempests, and have miserably afflicted both Church and
State. For which cause the same, Our Predecessors, have, with
Apostolic fortitude, constantly resisted the nefarious enterprises
234
of wicked men, who, like raging waves of the sea foaming out
their own confusion, and promising liberty whereas they are the
slaves of corruption, have striven by their deceptive opinions and
most pernicious writings to raze the foundations of the Catholic
religion and of civil society, to remove from among men all virtue
and justice, to deprave the mind and judgment of all, to turn
away from true moral training unwary persons, and especially
inexperienced youth, miserably to corrupt such youth, to lead it
into the snares of errror, and at length to tear it from the bosom
of the Catholic Church.
But now, as is well known to You, Venerable Brethren,
already, scarcely had we been elevated to this Chair of Peter (by
the hidden counsel of divine Providence, certainly by no merits
of Our own), when, seeing with the greatest grief of Our soul a
truly awful storm excited by so many evil opinions, and [seeing
also] the most grievous calamities never sufficiently to be deplored
which overspread the Christian people from so many errors,
according to the duty of Our Apostolic Ministry, and following
the illustrious example of Our Predecessors, We raised Our voice,
and in many published Encyclical Letters, and Allocutions de-
livered in Consistory, and other Apostolic letters, we condemned
the chief errors of this our most unhappy age, and we excited
your admirable Episcopal vigilance, and we again and again
admonished and exhorted all sons of the Catholic Church, to Us
most dear, that they should altogether abhor and flee from the
contagion of so dire a pestilence. And especially in Our first
Encyclical Letter written to You on Nov. 9, 1846, and in two
Allocutions delivered by us in Consistory, the one on Dec. 9,
1854, and the other on June 9, 1862, we condemned the mon-
strous portents of opinion which prevail especially in this age,
bringing with them the greatest loss of souls and detriment of
civil society itself ; which are grievously opposed also, not only
to the Catholic Church and her salutary doctrine and venerable
rights, but also to the eternal natural law engraven by God in all
men's hearts, and to right reason ; and from which almost all
other errors have their origin.
But, although we have not omitted often to proscribe and
reprobate the chief errors of this kind, yet the cause of the
235
Catholic Church, and the salvation of souls entrusted to us by
God, and the welfare of human society itself, altogether demand
that we again stir up your pastoral solicitude to exterminate
other evil opinions, which spring forth from the said errors as
from a fountain. Which false and perverse opinions are on that
ground the more to be detested, because they chiefly tend to this,
that that salutary influence be impeded and [even] removed
which the Catholic Church, according to the institution and
command of her Divine Author, should freely exercise even to
the end of the world — not only over private individuals, but over
nations, peoples, and their sovereign princes ; and (tend also) to
take away that mutual fellowship and concord of counsels between
Church and State which has ever proved itself propitious and
salutary, both for religious and civil interests. For You well
know, Venerable Brethren, that at this time men are found not
a few who, applying to civil society the impious and absurd
principle of naturalism, as they call it, dare to teach that " the
best constitution of public society and [also] civil progress
altogether require that human society be conducted and governed
without regard being had to religion any more than if it did not
exist ; or, at least, without any distinction being made between
the true religion and false ones." And, against the doctrine of
Scripture, of the Church, and of the holy Fathers, they do not
hesitate to assert that " that is the best condition of society, in
which no duty is recognised, as attached to the civil power, of
restraining, by enacted penalties, offenders against the Catholic
religion, except so far as public peace may require." From
which totally false idea of social government they do not fear to
foster that erroneous opinion, most fatal in its effects on the
Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, called by Our
Predecessor, Gregory XVL, an insanity, viz., that " liberty of
conscience and worships is each man's personal right, which
ought to be legally proclaimed and asserted in every rightly
constituted society ; and that a right resides in the citizens to an
absolute liberty, which should be restrained by no authority
whether ecclesiastical or civil, whereby they may be able openly
and publicly to manifest and declare any of their ideas whatever,
either by word of mouth, by the press, or in any other way."
236
But, while they rashly affirm this, they do not think and consider
that they are preaching the liberty of perdition ; and that, " if
human arguments are always allowed free room for discussion,
there will never be wanting men who will dare to resist truth.,
and to trust in the flowing speech of human wisdom ; whereas we
know, from the very teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, how
carefully Christian faith and wisdom should avoid this most
injurious babbling."
And, since where religion has been removed from civil society,
and the doctrine and authority of Divine revelation repudiated,
the genuine notion itself of justice and human right is darkened
and lost, and the place of true justice and legitimate right is
supplied by material force, thence it appears why it is that some,
utterly neglecting and disregarding the surest principles of sound
reason, dare to proclaim that " the people's will, manifested by
what is called public opinion or in some other way, constitutes a
supreme law, free from all Divine and human control ; and that
in the political order accomplished facts, from the very circum-
stance that they are accomplished, have the force of right." But
who does not see and clearly perceive that human society, when
set loose from the bonds of religion and true justice, can have, in
truth, no other end than the purpose of obtaining and amassing
wealth, and that [society under such circumstances] follows no
other law in its actions, except the unchastened desire of minis-
tering to its own pleasures and interests ? For this reason men
of the kind pursue with bitter hatred the Religious Orders,
although these have deserved extremely well of Christendom,
civilization, and literature, and cry out that the same have no
legitimate reason for being permitted to exist ; and thus [these
evil men] applaud the calumnies of heretics. For, as Pius VI.,
Our Predecessor, taught most wisely, " the abolition of regulars
is injurious to that state in which the Evangelical counsels are
openly professed ; it is injurious to a method of life praised in
the Church as agreeable to Apostolic doctrine ; it is injurious to
the illustrious founders themselves, whom we venerate on our
altars, who did not establish these societies but by God's inspi-
ration." And [these wretches] also impiously declare that
permission should be refused to citizens and to the Church,
237
" whereby they may openly give alms for the sake of Christian
charity ; " and that the law should be abrogated " whereby on
certain fixed days servile works are prohibited because of God's
worship ; " on the most deceptive pretext that the said permission
and law are opposed to the principles of the best public economy.
Moreover, not content with removing religion from public society,
they wish to banish it also from private families. For teaching
and professing the most fatal error of Communism and Socialism,
they assert that " domestic society or the family derives the whole
principle of its existence from the civil law alone ; and, con-
sequently, that from the civil law alone issue, and on it depend,
all rights of parents over their children, and especially that of
providing for education." By which impious opinions and
machinations these most deceitful men chiefly aim at this result,
viz., that the salutary teaching and influence of the Catholic
Church may be entirely banished from the instruction and
education of youth, and that the tender and flexible minds of
young men may be infected and depraved by every most per-
nicious error and vice. For all who have endeavoured to throw
into confusion things both sacred and secular, and to subvert the
right order of society, and to abolish all rights Divine and human,
have always (as we above hinted) devoted all their nefarious
schemes, devices, and efforts, to deceiving and depraving in-
cautious youth and have placed all their hope in its corruption.
For which reason they never cease by every wicked method to
assail the clergy, both secular and regular, from whom (as the
surest monuments of history conspicuously attest) so many great
advantages have abundantly flowed to Christianity, civilization,
and literature, and to proclaim that " the clergy, as being hostile
to the true and beneficial advance of science and civilization,
should be removed from the whole charge and duty of instructing
and educating youth."
Others meanwhile, reviving the wicked and so often condemned
inventions of innovators, dare with signal impudence to subject
to the will of the civil authority the supreme authority of
the Church and of this Apostolic See given to her by Christ
Himself, and to deny all those rights of the same Church and
See which concern matters of the external order. For they are
238
not ashamed of affirming " that the Church's laws do not bind in
conscience unless when they are promulgated by the civil power ;
that acts and decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, referring to religion
and the Church, need the civil power's sanction and approbation,
or at least its consent ; that the Apostolic Constitutions, whereby
secret societies are condemned (whether an oath of secrecy be or
be not required in such societies), and whereby their frequenters
and favourers are smitten with anathema — have no force in those
regions of the world wherein associations of the kind are tolerated
by the civil government ; that the excommunication pronounced
by the Council of Trent and by Roman Pontiffs against those
who assail and usurp the Church's rights and possessions, rests
on a confusion between the spiritual and temporal orders, and [is
directed] to the pursuit of a purely secular good; that the Church
can decree nothing which binds the consciences of the faithful in
regard to their use of temporal things ; that the Church has no
right of restraining by temporal punishments those who violate
her laws ; that it is conformable to the principles of sacred
theology and public law to assert and claim for the civil govern-
ment a right of property in those goods which are possessed by
the Church, by the Religious Orders, and by other pious esta-
blishments." Nor do they blush openly and publicly to profess the
maxim and principle of heretics from which arise so many perverse
opinions and errors. For they repeat that " the ecclesiastical
power is not by divine right distinct from, and independent of,
the civil power, and that such distinction and independence
cannot be preserved without the civil power's essential rights
being assailed and usurped by the Church." Nor can we pass
over in silence the audacity of those who, not enduring sound
doctrine, contend that " without sin and without any sacrifice of
the Catholic profession assent and obedience may be refused
to those judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See, whose
object is declared to concern the Church's general good and her
rights and discipline, so only it do not touch the dogmata of faith
and morals." But no one can be found not clearly and distinctly
to see and understand how grievously this is opposed to the
Catholic dogma of the full power given from God by Christ our
239
Lord Himself to the Roman Pontiff of feeding, ruling, and guid-
ing the universal Church.
Amidst, therefore, such great perversity of depraved opinions,
We, well remembering Our Apostolic Office, and very greatly
solicitous for our most holy Religion, for sound doctrine and the
salvation of souls which is intrusted to Us by God, and [solicitous
also] for the welfare of human society itself, have thought it right
again to raise up Our Apostolic voice. Therefore, by Our Apos-
tolic Authority we reprobate, proscribe, and condemn all and
singular the evil opinions and doctrines severally mentioned in
this letter, and will and command that they be thoroughly held
by all children of the Catholic Church as reprobated, proscribed,
and condemned.
And besides these things, You know very well, Venerable
Brethren, that in these times the haters of all truth and justice
and most bitter enemies of our religion, deceiving the people and
maliciously lying, disseminate sundry other impious doctrines by
means of pestilential books, pamphlets, and newspapers dispersed
over the whole world. Nor are You ignorant, also, that in this
our age some men are found who, moved and excited by the
spirit of Satan, have reached to that degree of impiety as not to
shrink from denying Our Ruler and Lord Jesus Christ, and from
impugning his Divinity with wicked pertinacity. Here, however,
we cannot but extol You, Venerable Brethren, with great and
deserved praise, for not having failed to raise with all zeal your
episcopal voice against impiety so great.
Therefore, in this Our Letter, we again most lovingly address
You, who, having been called unto a part of Our solicitude, are
to us, among Our grievous distresses, the greatest solace, joy, and
consolation, because of the admirable religion and piety wherein
you excel, and because of that marvellous love, fidelity, and
dutifulness, whereby, bound as you are to Us, and to this
Apostolic See in most harmonious affection, you strive strenu-
ously and sedulously to fulfil your most weighty episcopal
ministry. For from your signal pastoral zeal we expect that,
taking up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, and
strengthened in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will,
with redoubled care, each day more anxiously provide that the
K
240
faithful intrusted to your charge " abstain from noxious herbage,
which Jesus Christ does not cultivate because it is not His
Father's plantation." Never cease .also to inculcate on the said
faithful that all true felicity flows abundantly upon man from our
august Religion and its doctrine and practice ; and that happy is
the people whose God is their Lord. Teach that "kingdoms
rest on the foundation of the catholic Faith ; and that nothing is
so deadly, so hastening to a fall, so exposed to all danger, [as that
which exists] if, believing this alone to be sufficient for us that
we received free will at our birth, we seek nothing further from
the Lord ; that is, if forgetting our Creator we abjure his power
that we may display our freedom." And again do not fail to
teach " that the royal power was given not only for the govern-
ance of the world, but most of all for the protection of the
Church ; " and that there is nothing which can be of greater
advantage and glory to Princes and Kings than if, as another most
wise and courageous Predecessor of Ours, St. Felix, instructed the
Emperor Zeno, they " permit the Catholic Church to practise her
laws, and allow no one to oppose her liberty. For it is certain
that this mode of conduct is beneficial to their interests, viz., that
where there is question concerning the causes of God, they study,
according to His appointment, to subject the royal will to Christ's
Priests, not to raise it above theirs."
But if always, Venerable Brethren, now most of all amidst
such great calamities both of the Church and of civil society,
amidst so great a conspiracy against catholic interests and this
Apostolic See, and so great a mass of errors, it is altogether
necessary to approach with confidence the throne of grace, that
We may obtain mercy and find grace in timely aid. Wherefore,
We have thought it well to excite the piety of all the faithful in
order that, together with Us and You, they may unceasingly
pray and beseech the most merciful Father of light and pity with
most fervent and humble prayers, and in the fulness of faith flee
always to our Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us to God in His
blood, and earnestly and constantly supplicate His most sweet
Heart, the victim of most burning love towards us, that He
would draw all things to Himself by the bonds of His love,
and that all men inflamed by His most holy love may walk
241
worthily according to His Heart, pleasing God in all things,
hearing fruit in every good work. But since without douht
men's prayers are more pleasing to God if they reach Him from
minds free of all stain, therefore we have determined to open
to Christ's faithful, with Apostolic liberality, the Church's
heavenly treasures committed to our charge, in order that the
said faithful, being more earnestly enkindled to true piety, and
cleansed through the Sacrament of Penance from the defilement
of their sins, may with greater confidence pour forth their prayers
to God, and obtain His mercy and grace.
By these letters therefore, in virtue of Our Apostolic authority,
we concede to all and singular the faithful of the catholic world,
a Plenary Indulgence in form of Jubilee, during the space of one
month only for the whole coming year 1865, and not beyond ; to
be fixed by You, Venerable Brethren, and other legitimate
Ordinaries of places, in the very same manner and form in which
we granted it at the beginning of Our supreme Pontificate by Our
Apostolic Letters in the form of a Brief, dated November 20,
1846, and addressed to all your episcopal Order, beginning,
" Arcano DivinaB Providentise consilio," and with all the same
faculties which were given by Us in those Letters. We will,
however that all things be observed which were prescribed in the
aforesaid Letters, and those things be excepted which We there
so declared. And We grant this, notwithstanding anything
whatever to the contrary, even things which are worthy of indi-
vidual mention and derogation. In order however that all doubt
and difficulty be removed, we have commanded a copy of the said
Letters to be sent you.
" Let us implore," Venerable Brethren, " God's mercy from
our inmost heart and with our whole mind ; because He has
Himself added ' I will not remove my mercy from them.' Let
us ask and we shall receive ; and if there be delay and slowness
in our receiving because we have gravely offended, let us knock,
because to him that knocketh it shall be opened, if only the door
be knocked by our prayers, groans, and tears, in which we must
persist and persevere, and if the prayer be unanimous :
let each man pray to God, not for himself alone, but for all his
brethren, as the Lord hath taught us to pray." But in order
242
that God may the more readily assent to the prayers and desires
of Ourselves, of You, and of all the faithful, let us with all con-
fidence employ as our advocate with Him the Immaculate and
most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who has slain all heresies
throughout the world, and who, the most loving Mother of us all,
" is all sweet and full of mercy shows herself to
all as easily entreated ; shows herself to all as most merciful ; pities
the necessities of all with a most large affection ;" and standing
as a Queen at the right hand of her only begotten Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety, can
obtain from Him whatever she will. Let us also seek the
suffrages of the Most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and
of Paul his Fellow-apostle, and of all the Saints in heaven, who
having now become God's friends, have arrived at the heavenly
kingdom, and being crowned bear their palms, and being secure
of their own immortality are anxious for our salvation.
Lastly, imploring from Our heart for You from God the abun-
dance of all heavenly gifts, We most lovingly impart the Apos-
tolic Benediction from Our inmost heart, a pledge of Our signal
love towards You, to Yourselves, Venerable Brethren, and to all
the clerics and lay faithful committed to your care.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, the 8th day of December, in
the year 1864, the tenth from the Dogmatic Definition of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
In the nineteenth year of Our Pontificate.
243
SYLLABUS,
EMBRACING THE PRINCIPAL ERRORS OF OUR TIME WHICH ARE
CENSURED IN CONSISTORIAL ALLOCUTIONS, ENCYCLICALS, AND
OTHER APOSTOLIC LETTERS OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER,
POPE PIUS IX.
Pantheism, Naturalism, and absolute Rationalism.
I. There exists no supreme, all-wise, and most provident Divine
Being distinct from this universe, and God is the same as the
nature of things, and therefore liable to change ; and God is
really made both in man and in the world, and all things are God
and have the self-same substance of God ; and God is one and
the same thing with the world, and therefore spirit is the same
thing with matter, necessity with liberty, truth with falsehood,
good with evil, and just with unjust.
II. All action of God on mankind and on the world is to be
denied.
III. Human reason, without any regard whatever being had
to God, is the one judge of truth and falsehood, of good and evil ;
it is a law to itself, and suffices by its natural strength for provi-
ding the good of men and peoples.
IV. All the trutbs of religion flow from the natural force of
human reason ; hence reason is the chief rule whereby man can
and should obtain the knowledge of all truths of every kind.
V. Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to a
continuous and indefinite progress corresponding to the advance
of human perfection.
VI. The faith of Christ is opposed to human reason ; and
Divine revelation not only nothing profits, but is even injurious to
man's reason.
VII- The prophecies and miracles recorded and narrated in
Scripture are poetical fictions, and the mysteries of Christian faith
a result of philosophical investigations ; and in the books of both
Testaments are contained mythical inventions ; and Jesus Christ
Himself is a mythical fiction.
244
§n.
Moderate Rationalism.
VIII. Since human reason is on a level with religion itself,
therefore theological studies are to he handled in the same
manner as philosophical.
IX. All the dogmas of the Christian religion are without dis-
tinction the object of natural science or philosophy ; and human
reason, with no other than an historical cultivation, is able from its
own natural strength and principles to arrive at true knowledge
of even the more abstruse dogmas, so only these dogmas have
been proposed to the reason itself as its object.
X. Since the philosopher is one thing, philosophy another, the
former has the right and duty of submitting himself to that
authority which he may have approved as true ; but philosophy
neither can nor should submit itself to any authority.
XI. The Church not only ought never to animadvert on
philosophy, but ought to tolerate the errors of philosophy, and to
leave it in her hands to correct itself.
XII. The decrees of the Apostolic See and of Roman Congre-
gations interfere with the free progress of science.
XIII. The method and principles whereby the ancient scho-
lastic Doctors cultivated theology are not suited to the necessities
of our time and to the progress of the sciences.
XIV. Philosophy should be treated without regard had to
supernatural revelation.
N.B. — To the system of Rationalism belong mostly the errors
of Anthony Gunther, which are condemned in the epistle to the
Cardinal- Archbishop of Cologne: "Eximiam tuam," June 15,
1857, and in that to the Bishop of Breslau, "Dolore haud
mediocri," April 30, 1860.
§ HI-
Indifferentism, Latitudinarianism.
XV. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion
which, led by the light of reason, he may have thought true.
XVI. Men may in the practice of any religion whatever find
the path of eternal salvation, and attain eternal salvation.
245
XVII. At least good hopes should be entertained concerning
the salvation of all those who in no respect live in the true
Church of Christ.
XVIII. Protestanisrn is nothing else than a different form of
the same Christian religion, in which it is permitted to please
Grod equally as in the true Catholic Church.
§ IV.
Socialism, Communism, Secret Societies, Bible Societies, Clerico-
Liberal Societies,
Pests of this kind are often reprobated, and in the most severe
terms in the Encyclical " Qui pluribus," November 9, 1846 ; the
Allocution " Quibus Quantisque," April 20, 1849 ; the Encycli-
cal " Noscitis et Nobiscum," December 8, 1849 ; the Allocution
" Singulaiii quadam," December 9, 1854; the Encyclical "Quan-
to conficiamur," August 10, 1863.
Errors concerning the Church and her rights.
XIX. The Church is not a true and perfect society fully free,
nor does she enjoy her own proper and permanent rights given to
her by her Divine Founder, but it is the civil power's business to
define what are the Church's rights, and the limits within which
she may be enabled to exercise them.
XX. The ecclesiastical power should not exercise its authority
without permission and assent of the civil government.
XXI. The Church has not the power of dogmatically denning
that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion.
XXII. The obligation by which Catholic teachers and writers
are absolutely bound, is confined to those things alone which are
propounded by the Church's infallible judgment, as dogmas of
faith to be believed by all.
XXIII. Roman Pontiffs and ecumenical Councils have ex-
ceeded the limits of their power, usurped the rights of princes,
and erred even in defining matters of faith and morals.
XXIV. The Church has no power of employing force, nor has
she any temporal power direct or indirect.
246
XXV. Besides the inherent power of the episcopate, another
temporal power has heen granted expressly or tacitly by the civil
government, which may therefore be abrogated by the civil
government at its pleasure.
XXVI. The Church has no native and legitimate right of
acquiring and possessing.
X XVII. The Church's sacred ministers and the Roman Pontiff
should be entirely excluded from all charge and dominion of
temporal things.
XXVIII. Bishops ought not, without the permission of the
Government, to publish even letters apostolic.
XXIX. Graces granted by the Eoman. Pontiff should be
accounted as void, unless they have been sought through the
Government.
XXX. The immunity of the Church and of ecclesiastical
persons had its origin from the civil law.
XXXI. The ecclesiastical lorum for the temporal causes of
clerics, whether civil causes or criminal, should be altogether
abolished, even without consulting, and against the protest of.
the Apostolic See.
XXXII. Without any violation of natural right and equity,
that personal immunity may be abrogated, whereby clerics are
exempted from the burden of undertaking and performing
military services ; and such abrogation is required by civil
progress, especially in a society constituted on the model of a
free rule.
XXXIII. It does not appertain exclusively to ecclesiastical
jurisdiction by its own proper and native right to direct the
teaching of theology.
XXXIV. The doctrine of those who compare the Eoman
Pontiff to a Prince, free and acting in the Universal Church, is
the doctrine which prevailed in the middle age.
XXXV. Nothing forbids that by the judgment of some General
Council, or by the act of all peoples, the supreme Pontificate
should be transferred from the Eoman Bishop and City to another
Bishop and another State.
XXXVI. The definition of a national Council admits no
247
further dispute, and the civil administration may fix the matter
on this footing.
XXXVII. National Churches separated and totally disjoined
from the Roman Pontiff's authority may be instituted.
XXXVIII. The too arbitrary conduct of Roman Pontiffs con-
tributed to the Church's division into East and West.
§VI.
Errors concerning civil society, considered both in itself and in its
relation to the Church.
XXXIX. The State, as being the origin and fountain of all
rights, possesses a certain right of its own, circumscribed by no
limits.
XL. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church is opposed to the
good and benefit of human society.
XLI. The civil power, even when exercised by a non-Catholic
ruler, has an indirect negative power over things sacred ; it has
consequently not only the right which they call exequatur, but
that right also which they call appelcomme d'abus.
XLII. In the case of a conflict between laws of the two powers,
civil law prevails.
XLIII. The lay power has the authority of rescinding, of
declaring null, and of voiding solemn conventions (commonly
called Concordats) j concerning the exercise of rights appertaining
to ecclesiastical immunity, which have been entered into with the
Apostolic See, — without this See's consent, and even against its
protest.
XLIV. The civil authority may mix itself up in matters which
appertain to religion, morals, and spiritual rule. Hence it can
exercise judgment concerning those instructions which the
Church's pastors issue according to their office for the guidance
of consciences ; nay, it may even decree concerning the adminis-
tration of the holy sacraments, and concerning the dispositions
necessary for their reception.
XLV. The whole governance of public schools wherein the
youth of any Christian State is educated, episcopal seminaries
only being in some degree excepted, may and should be given to
248
the civil power ; and in such sense he given, that no right be
recognized in any other authority of mixing itself up in the
management of the schools, the direction of studies, the confer-
ring of degrees, the choice or approbation of teachers.
XL VI. Nay, in the very ecclesiastical seminaries, the method
of study to be adopted is subject to the civil authority.
XL VII. The best constitution of civil society requires that
popular schools which are open to children of every class, and
that public institutions generally which are devoted to teaching
literature and science and providing for the education of youth,
be exempted from all authority of the Church, from all her
moderating influence and interference, and subjected to the
absolute will of the civil and political authority [so as to be
conducted] in accordance with the tenets of civil rulers, and the
standard of the common opinions of the age.
XL VIII. That method of instructing youth can be approved
by Catholic men which is disjoined from the Catholic faith and
the Church's power, and which regards exclusively, or at least
principally, knowledge of the natural order alone, and the ends of
social life on earth.
XLIX. The civil authority may prevent the Bishops and
faithful from free and mutual communication with the Roman
Pontiff.
L. The lay authority has of itself the right of presenting
bishops, and may require of them that they enter on the man-
agement of their dioceses before they receive from the Holy See
canonical institution and apostolical letters.
LI. Nay, the lay government has the right of deposing bishops
from exercise of their pastoral ministry ; nor is it bound to obey
the Roman Pontiff in those things which regard the establishment
of bishoprics and the appointment of bishops.
LII. The government may, in its own right, change the age
prescribed by the Church for the religious profession of men and
women, and may require religious orders to admit no one to
solemn vows without its permission.
LIII. Those laws should be abrogated which relate to protect-
ing the condition of religious orders and their rights and duties ;
nay, the civil government may give assistance to all those who
249
may wish to quit the religious life which they have undertaken,
and to break their solemn vows; and in like manner it may
altogether abolish the said religious orders, and also collegiate
churches and simple benefices, even those under the right of a
patron, and subject and assign their goods and revenues to the
administration and free disposal of the civil power.
LIV. Kings and Princes are not only exempted from the
Church's jurisdiction, but also are superior to the Church in
deciding questions of jurisdiction.
LV. The Church should be separated from the State, and the
State from the Church.
§ VII.
Errors concerning natural and Christian Ethics.
LVI. The laws of morality need no Divine sanction, and there
is no necessity that human laws be conformed to the law of
nature, or receive from God their obligatory force.
LVII. The science of philosophy and morals, and also the
laws of a state, may and should withdraw themselves from the
jurisdiction of Divine and ecclesiastical authority.
LVIII. No other strength is to be recognized except material
force ; and all moral discipline and virtue should be accounted to
consist in accumulating and increasing wealth by every method,
and in satiating the desire of pleasure.
LIX. Right consists in the mere material fact ; and all the
duties of man are an empty name, and all human facts have the
force of right.
LX. Authority is nothing else but numerical power and material
force.
LXI. The successful injustice of a fact brings with it no
detriment to the sanctity of right.
LXII. The principle of non-intervention (as it is called) should
be proclaimed and observed.
LXIII. It is lawful to refuse obedience to legitimate princes,
and even rebel against them.
LXIV. A violation of any most sacred oath, or any wicked
and flagitious action whatever repugnant to the eternal law,
250
is not only not to be reprobated, but is even altogether lawful,
and to be extolled with the highest praise when it is done for
love of country.
§ VIII.
Errors concerning Christian Matrimony.
LXV. It can in no way be tolerated that Christ raised matri-
mony to the dignity of a sacrament.
LXVI. The sacrament of marriage is only an accessory to the
. contract, and separable from it ; and the sacrament itself consists
in the nuptial benediction alone.
LXVIL The bond of matrimony is not indissoluble by the
law of nature ; and in various cases divorce, properly so called,
may be sanctioned by the civil authority.
LXVIII. The Church has no power of enacting diriment
impediments to marriage ; but that power is vested in the civil
authority, by which the existing impediments may be removed.
LXIX. In later ages the Church began to enact diriment
impediments, not in her own right, but through that right which
she had borrowed from the civil power.
LXX. The Canons of Trent, which inflict the censure of
anathema on those who dare to deny the Church's power of
enacting diriment impediments, are either not dogmatical, or are
to be understood of this borrowed power.
LXXI. The form ordained by the Council of Trent does not
bind on pain of nullity wherever the civil law may prescribe
another form, and may will that, by this new form, matrimony
shall be made valid.
LXXII. Boniface VIII. was the first who asserted that the
vow of chastity made at ordination annuls marriage.
LXXI II. By virtue of a purely civil contract there may exist
among Christians marriage, truly so called ; and it is false that
either the contract of marriage among Christians is always a
sacrament, or that there is no contract if the sacrament be
excluded.
LXXIV. Matrimonial causes and espousals belong by their
own nature to the civil forum.
251
N.B. — To this head may be referred two other errors: on
abolishing clerical celibacy, and on preferring the state . of
marriage to that of virginity. They are condemned, the former
in the Encyclical " Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846 ; the latter in
the Apostolic Letters "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.
§IX.
Errors concerning the Roman Pontiff" s civil princedom.
LXXV. Children of the Christian and Catholic Church dispute
with each other on the compatibility of the temporal rule with the
spiiitual.
LXXVL The abrogation of that civil power, which the Apos-
tolic See possesses, would conduce in the highest degree to the
Church's liberty and felicity.
N.B. — Besides these errors implicitly branded, many others
are implicitly reprobated in the exposition and assertion of that
doctrine which all Catholics ought most firmly to hold concerning
the Roman Pontiff's civil princedom. This doctrine is clearly
delivered in the Allocution, Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849 ;
in the Allocution, " Si semper antea," May 20, 1850 ; in the
Apostolic Letters, " Cum Catholica Ecclesia," March 26, 1860 ;
in the Allocution, " Novos," Sept. 28, 1861 ; in the Allocution,
" Jamdudum," March 18, 1861 ; in the Allocution, " Maxima
quidem," June 9, 1862.
Errors which have reference to the Liberalism of the day.
LXXVII. In this our age it is no longer expedient that the
Catholic religion should be treated as the only religion of the
State, all other worships whatsoever being excluded.
LXXVIII. Hence it has been laudably provided by law in
some Catholic countries, that men thither immigrating should be
permitted the public exercise of their own several worships.
LXXIX. For truly it is false that the civil liberty of all
worships, and the full power granted to all of openly and publicly
declaring any opinions and thoughts whatever, conduces to more
252
easily corrupting the morals and minds of peoples, and propagat-
ing the plague of indifferentism.
LXXX. The Roman Pontiff can and ought to reconcile and
harmonize himself with progress, with liberalism, and with modern
civilization.
SPAIN.
"The Queen fled from Spain Sep. 30, 1868, and arrived at
Biarritz, where she met the Emperor Napoleon. Her conduct had
alienated all feelings of loyalty, and the forms of the Constitution
had heen abused and made the machinery of arbitrary and oppres-
sive rule. The people were weary of a system which repressed
all freedom of thought and rights of conscience, which placed the
education of the young in the hands of Jesuits, and under which
they had lost all respect for their ministers, and all attachment
to the Crown. Nothing however occurred until April to give
warning of the coming storm." — Extracted from " The Annual
Register"
INTERDICTION OF THE JESUITS IN SWITZERLAND.
" The Council of the States has approved of the resolution on
the part of the National Council, which interdicts the order of
Jesuits, and forbids its members to engage in ecclesiastical and
educational functions in Switzerland." — Extract from "Daily
News," Berne, Feb. 9, 1872.
253
CARDINAL CULLEN ON THE COUNCIL.
The Tablet of the 30th of June, 1870, gives the following
account of the presentation of an Address to Cardinal Cullen at
Rome by the Irish Roman Catholic Bishops, there resident at the
conclusion of the (Ecumenical Council. The subjoined extract of
the Cardinal's reply to the Address, as given also in the Tablet,
appears to convey his views as to the general objects of the
Council, especially with respect to the Liberties of the Gallican
Church : —
" On the evening of Monday, the 18th, after the public session
of St. Peter's, an important reunion was held at the Irish College
in Rome, through the kind invitation of the Very Rev. Mgr.
Kirby, the venerable and respected president. Not only the
Irish bishops at present in Rome, but the most distinguished
prelates from France, Spain, the United States, Canada, and
other countries enjoyed his hospitality on this occasion. Several
bishops representing the children of St. Patrick, not only in
Ireland, but throughout the British Colonies, availed themselves
of the opportunity to present the following address to his Eminence
the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin : — ' To his Eminence Paul
Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland, etc.
May it please your eminence, on this most memorable day in the
history of the Vatican Council, we the archbishops and bishops,
representatives of the Irish race, respectfully approach your
eminence, and offer our heartfelt congratulations on your most
able and successful vindication in the Council Hall of the rights
of the Holy See, and of the tradition of the Irish Church con-
cerning them. Your eminence truly represented on the occasion
the faith and feelings of the Irish people, and we are proud of
the manner in which you have testified to both. — Signed by D.
M'GETTIGAN, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland —
followed by 29 other signatures.' '
254
Extract from Cardinal Cullen's reply to the address :—
" In progress of time the decisions of such a body will be the
" source of great blessings to the Church, condemning, as they
" do, so many forms of modern error, upholding the cause of
"justice and authority, denning the rights of religion, and above
" all, banishing Grallicanism from the pale of the Church. This
" form of teaching, notwithstanding the name it bears, was never
" adopted by the great Church of France, but was violently forced
" into a sort of official existence by an ambitious king. Its
" tendencies always were to undermine the foundation of the
" Church, to divide the faithful of different countries into hostile
" camps, and to promote schisms and dissensions among those
" who should live together like brethren. Having been now
" solemnly condemned by a General Council, it is to be hoped
" that itself and its offshoots will soon be forgotten."
LONDON : WILLIAM MACINTOSH, 24, PATERNOSTER Row.
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